Memoro
by paradoxScholar
Summary: Summary: Soliss Kairee stumbles and lands face-to-face with the Heart Pirates. She finds out that Captain Trafalgar Law has seen her before, but only because he mistakes her for someone else! Stranded on their ship til they hit shore, will she and the crew come to an understanding or will the things she that doesn't remember cause chaos as they make their way to the next island?
1. Chapter 1: First Impressions

Chapter 1: First Impressions

* * *

(Hello all. This is my very first published fanfic. Please feel free to leave any comments at all and have a great day.)

Disclaimer: I do not known any of the One Piece characters. This is a non-canon work of fiction.

Warning: I do realize that Kairee comes off like a Mary Sue, yes. Haha, I suppose I just ended up writing her that way. Whether that retracts from the experience or not is entirely up to the reader. I do hope you all enjoy the story, though.

* * *

Soliss Kairee stumbles and lands face-to-face with the Heart Pirates. She finds out that Captain Trafalgar Law has seen her before, but only because he mistakes her for someone else! Stranded on their ship til they hit shore, will she and the crew come to an understanding or will the things she that doesn't remember cause chaos as they make their way to the next island?

* * *

...

When she opened her eyes, it was pitch dark.

The air was cold and dry and strangely fruity. She tried to move her hands to feel out where she was, but there was a large weight bearing down on her. Rather, she felt several small irregularly-shaped objects surrounding her, pinning down her lower torso, arms and legs. She tried to pull herself free, but her back and backpack were flanked by a wooden wall.

She begun to panic. After all, she was terribly claustrophobic.

"Hello," her voice sounded strangely unfamiliar in this dark, cramped space.

"Help," she attempted. She swallowed a large lump in her throat.

"Is anyone there?" She started to thrash her torso, banging her head against the resounding wood behind her. "Please! Somebody help!" She began to shake from both the cold and from fear.

"HELP!" she repeated desperately.

It was no use. Nobody was around to hear her, she realized. She closed her eyes and tried to think of another way out that didn't involve breaking anything, since she guessed she was in a crate, but her desperation urged her to attempt so.

But then, a light came on just as she'd thought this. Little rays flooded through the cracks above and around her, revealing her small captors to be various kinds of fruits. After a moment, she heard clanging metal, and a few male voices started filling the air.

"- always freezing in here!"

"Well what do you expect? A sauna?"

"C'mon, its dinner time guys, let's hurry up!" Sounds of shuffling started.

While she was listening, Kairee had forgotten her voice. She began to throw her back and head against the wood.

"What was that?" she heard one of them say, alarmed. They had halted whatever they were doing.

Recalling she had the power of speech, she cleared her throat carefully. "In the fruit crate."

A silent beat passed before she heard hurried footsteps coming towards her. They stopped close by, and she heard several metal objects drop noisily to the ground before, a second later, metal was driven into wood just a few inches above her head, to which she reacted with a yelp. The wooden support behind her gave way after a great heave on the crowbar, and she fell backwards to the floor, the apples and oranges and other things, spilling out over her and out the side of the crate.

She looked up at the ceiling to find 3 men staring down at her with mixed expressions of shock and confusion. However, after the short moment of initial stupor, one of them snapped. "Who the hell are you?"

She chuckled nervously and raised her hands up to her ears in a gesture of surrender as she got up slowly. "Umm, hi fellas. Before you do anything drastic, though, let me assure you that there is a perfectly logical reason for how I got in this cradle."

The 3 stood there, slightly agape, and she realized they were waiting for her explanation.

"Haha, it's a funny story, really…" she scratched her head as her eyes darted about the freezer room, which was filled with various meats, fish, barrels, and crates. She brought her eyes back to the men, who were still watching with anticipation.

"Yeahhh… I got nothing."

….

A few minutes later, the young lady found herself being escorted down a dimly lit metal hallway to be taken to the ship's captain for a decision as to what was to happen to this strange stowaway. She was asked to come cooperatively, or else they'd be prompted to use force. But, even without the stern warning, she had no intention of making trouble while she was on a ship that had already set sail. Who knows what they'd do to her if she rubbed them the wrong way? All the more so if they were pirates, which she hoped wasn't the case….

She looked around silently as she was lead down the halls. The walls hummed and rumbled, as though a great beast was sleeping deep within the ship, and the pipes that ran their lengths puffed and churned. Everything seemed to be a faded shade of silver. Then she gave herself a once over.

She was wearing her ever-constant white gi and pants, her blue sandals, and no visible weapons -"visible", anyway- the regular ensemble. Then she glanced to her captors.

One man behind her was plump with a round face and curly hair, and wore hat goggles on his forehead. He looked rather anxious about something. The other man behind her had a long sallow face, and a long thin mustache that stuck outwards in a slight curve, sporting a hat with a star. Then the man leading the way had a stern, hard and rectangular face and wore a folded bandana around his head. Each of them was wearing a white shirt and yellow pants in different variations.

"Alright."

She stopped just short of bumping into bandana guy as he halted in front of a heavy metal door with a large turning wheel instead of a simple handle. He turned the lock with ease, and swung the door open.

'Captain, we've got big news," he said as he stepped inside. "We found a stowaway in food storage!"

She could see from outside that the well-lit room was filled with panels displaying various levers and switches and knobs. A large table sat in the center, with papers and maps strewn on it. There were two men shuffling about at the controls. But none of these things had caught her eye and made her stare agape as the large screen above the panels had.

On it, an expanse of dark blue darkness, illuminated by a single ray of light, was shown. In the distance, a group of bright hues were dancing along and floated out of sight. After a while, a gray shape, sharply-angled and menacing, sped on by the right side of the screen.

"Hurry up," star hat said, and gave the girl a push. However gentle, though, she was caught unprepared, and tripped upon the short bottom part of the doorway, stumbling and tumbling into the room, rolling a bit, and stopping on her rump, which was now sore from the impact.

"Well, that was graceful," she muttered, closing her eyes and rubbing her head, embarrassed that probably everyone in the room saw her blunder.

"You're…" An unfamiliar, deep voice started above her.

She opened her eyes, and her heart jumped in her throat, as, seemingly appropriate to the analogy, the captain of the Heart Pirates stood tall in front of her.

"Trafalgar Law," she breathed.

There was no mistaking it. The sharp, lean features, the eyes lined with dark circles, the shirt adorned right on the center with his jolly roger, and the hat, especially was a dead giveaway- white with black spots.

She stared, absolutely speechless, but though her mind had stopped working, there was one thing she caught, and that was that Trafalgar Law looked just as surprised as she was. In fact, he looked incredibly stupefied. Suddenly, he opened his mouth.

'Shingle?"

Kairee started and the cogs in her head slowly began to turn again.

"Shingle, is that you?" he tried his voice again, taking a small cautionary step forward. "It's me, Aqua."

He sounded… hopeful? There seemed to be no other way to describe it.

This worried her. It was one thing for a pirate captain to be furious at a stowaway, but the fact that he seemed to think she was someone else and that she had to explain a mistaken identity made things a lot more complicated and unpredictable.

She mustered the courage to reply. "I-I'm sorry to tell you this, but I don't know what or who you mean, Mr. Trafalgar Law, sir."

He looked taken aback, and severely confused, but pressed on, insistent. "No, you have to be. You're Claviger Shingle, I'm sure of it."

"My name is Soliss Kairee…. I'm sorry but you must have me mistaken."

"You look exactly like her. You must be Shingle," his voice had risen now, trying to reaffirm himself. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying, though. I've never met-"

"You're Shingle! I know it!" he exclaimed angrily. "Don't lie to me, Kaykay!"

At this, Kairee froze, feeling the blood rush out of her face.

He knew her personal nickname.

They stared at each other in tension thick enough to cut a knife through. He searched her face desperately as though he were looking for some hint of deception, and though she didn't want to meet this terrifying man's eyes, she could not pull away, not when she was so shocked and so confused.

His eyes flitted away to steal glances around the room. Everyone had their eyes on the exchange that unfolded, dumbfounded by such an unexpected turn of events. He looked at her one last time, searching as it seemed.

He righted himself and slackened his limbs.

"I've been mistaken," he closed his eyes and turned away from her. "You're a stranger."

"And now," he turned back to her, and it chilled her to see his eyes now sharp and severe, "you're a prisoner."

"Whatever the reason," Soliss-ya, you've stowed away on a pirate ship. You're stuck here unless we decide otherwise."

He gestured for her to get on her feet. She hesitantly complied.

"You will be earning your meals by cleaning the ship. Otherwise, you can decide to starve if you wish."

After a pause, she decided to reply, "I'm okay with not starving… Thank you." She tried a smile to express some assurance, but it stopped and died halfway upon seeing the lack of humour (or any expression, for that matter) on the Captain's face.

"Shachi."

"Y-Yes, Captain?" one of the two men who had been in the control room when she arrived and who wore a green casquette had on his head, answered.

"Come with me. We're taking her to the prisoner's hold."

He nodded and took the front to lead them out as Law gestured the girl to follow.

"Everyone, go back to what you were doing earlier." He called into the room before closing the heavy-looking door behind them.

They walked down the hall and all the while, Kairee distracted herself with observing the ships interior, what with the urge to look behind her so strong as the Captain was watching her back. They found themselves in front of the freezer room. This time, however, she noticed two large holes on either side of the hall and ladders leading down them.

After setting her feet on the ground floor, she was led into a foreboding metal room with a steel bar door. Inside, she found four jail cells partitioned from each other by metal walls, not unlike the ones you found in a sheriff's prison house.

Law lead her to the cell on the farthest left, which looked to be the least used. The captain didn't even need to spell it out. This is where she would be staying.

The interior consisted of a cot set up a metal platform with the free side suspended on a pair of chains that attached to the wall adjacent, while the other side was attached to the wall on hinges, so the whole thing could fold up into the wall if you ever had some good reason to do so. That was it.

She sighed internally. 'At least it can't get any worse,' she mused at the windowless prison, trying to push the thought of suffocating under the sea in this enclosed place out of her head as she stepped inside.

She was setting her bag on the cot when she felt a hand close around her forearm. "I'll be taking your bag." It was an order.

"But you can't do that!" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Turning to face him, he towered over her easily, hand still clutching her. Her heart was doing somersaults.

"Oh?" he sounded amused but didn't look it, staring at her intensely, and expression unreadable.

She wanted nothing more than to shrink away from him, but she couldn't let him take it just like that.

"I'm sorry, Captain Trafalgar, but this bag is especially important to me and you can't have it," she attempted with conviction. She was about to argue her case further, but her voice trailed away when she noticed he didn't seem to be listening. He was still staring at her, but his thoughts, seemed to be far away, digging up a daydream. Then, in an instant, he was back.

"I don't believe you understand your situation," the Captain stated matter-of-factly. Where he had been clutching Kairee's arm erupted a blue sphere that enveloped first her arm, then her torso and finally her entire body along with her cot and bag.

"Room," he muttered before letting her go and leaning against the wall. "You'll be in pieces if you try anything suspicious. Take out only what's necessary- clothes, especially. Leave whatever weapons you have inside the bag." He watched as she uncomfortably and reluctantly began to unpack 3 more pairs of her current outfit and she blushed a bit as she took out a paper bag.

"What is that?" his voice casual but sharp as a tack. 'He just had to ask,' she thought as her face reddened deeper and she looked away. "Undergarments," she breathed.

Several seconds of silence passed before she turned to see if he was taunting her. He was wearing the same intense expression.

"You're not gonna check, are you?" she couldn't help but say.

"Are you done?" he asked instead of answering.

She breathed a sigh of relief. She took this as a no to her query. "Please wait a bit more." She started taking some toiletries and a towel out of her bag, as well as a pillow and a blanket, while pondering her predicament. She still had no desire to hand over her bag, even if she had no choice. She thought about resisting, even, perhaps, of running away.

What would be the outcome of a face-off with the infamous "Surgeon of Death"? And in such a cramped space? Even if she used her Gust Gust fruit's abilities (which she then resolved to hide from the crew til she was sure she'd need to) to incapacitate everyone on the ship, who would steer? They'd sink to the ocean for sure. Take them hostage, perhaps? No… Captain Trafalgar would never let his ship get taken without a good fight.

None of these sounded at all like good ideas. What's more, she didn't really feel like leaving. Disregarding the fact that she greatly admired the pirate captain, there was something… wrong with the whole thing. How did he know her nickname? She couldn't recall them ever having met, and on the chance that they had, it would be Kairee remembering the event, not Law…. At least, that was how it was supposed to work, usually. And even if it was just a coincidence, who was Shingle? What did she mean to Law for him to have such a reaction on seeing her? And even now, even as she established that she wasn't Shingle, there was still a look in his eyes as he watched her. Was it doubt, or sorrow? Was he searching for more proof, a sign that she was or wasn't this person who seemed to mean so much?

With a heavy sigh, she set down her most prized travelling companion on the floor in front of him. He regarded it with a glance, then looked back to here.

"Hidden weapons?" he looked up and down her person, and thought there was no malice in his gaze (at least from what she saw), she shuddered at the thought of becoming so vulnerable.

"I… Fine." She reached into both her sleeves simultaneously and pulled out two very thin and short knives. Shachi, who stood beyond the metal bars, stood agape with wide eyes. "What in the world…"

She took two more similar knives from hidden slots in the bottoms of her sandals. Finally, she squat down, and, after awkwardly putting her arm up each pant leg, she retrieved a pair of sleek black rods about the length of her forearm. All the while she avoided eye contact with the both of them. She felt almost as if she were giving a stripping show, and was extremely uncomfortable.

"That's all I've got," she said as she rose up and dusted herself off.

She waited anxiously as the Captain-Doctor stood quiet, hoping against hope that he wouldn't conduct a full body search using his ability or something similar.

He held out his hand at the sphere and Kairee's body went tense as she braced herself, but instead the blue sphere around her vanished. Shachi was asked to take the weapons, while Law took her bag. "The bathroom is in the corner, along with cleaning supplies. You can start with this room and the cells."

Shachi had left, and Law was about to turn and go when he grabbed Kairee's forearm again with a firm grip. Her heart was skipping beats when he began to lean closer, a strange look in her eyes. Then he lifted up her arm and looked at her hand. He mentally noted whatever observation he was making and let go, then left without another word.

She sank on her cot, breathing deeply, as she listened to the metal bar door close and a distinct click that she knew meant she was locked in. "So much for a first impression," she sadly remarked aloud.

She perked her head up to survey her new living spaces for more details. There was a hefty layer of grime on the corner and walls. Kairee had a sensitive sense of smell, so upon entering the next cell over, the pungent stench of blood, rust and piss met her nostrils in full force. There were several discolored stains on the floor. It seemed that there was a good reason Captain Trafalgar was infamous for cruelty.

"Well, I suppose I should get to work," she declared half-heartedly.

….

An hour had passed and she had finished scrubbing her cell with a half-moth eaten brush and cleaning fluid and was halfway through with the one adjacent when Starhat arrived to tell her that she was being called in to dinner. He had a rather droll and drawling deep voice, but he seemed to be one of the friendlier ones around the place, despite not smiling or saying much. She was grateful that they weren't starving her tonight.

She was led up to the top floor and passed Bandana and Penguin-hat in the hall, who both eyed her with varying degrees of suspicion. Starhat led her to the door on the right-hand side just before the Control Room and they entered.

She found the dining room and kitchen inside. A large wooden table sat in the middle of room, strewn with several dirty plates, bowls and utensils, as thought there was a deliberate effort to make it worse for whoever was cleaning up after dinner. The chairs were also out of order, some positioned at a distance that seemed the seater had pushed and launched himself away from the table.

There was a standing rack to the side that held a few plates, utensils and mugs, which probably meant this was where people picked up their implements to start eating.

At the back of the room was the kitchen area, with a counter that ran from one corner of the back wall to the other. There were several metal cupboards overheard, as well as what seemed to be a pantry to one side as well as a refrigerator. There were several dirty pots and pans on the stoves.

"The Captain instructed me to tell you that you're not allowed to eat til you've washed everything up and clean the room."

"Are you serious?" Why was she even asking? Of course they were serious, both this guy and the Captain. Starhat nodded curtly.

She had already tired herself out quite a bit from the efforts to clean the cells, but she did as she was told. After gathering up all the finished (and unfinished) meals, she placed them next to the sink, dumped the leftovers in the area designated by Starhat (who had been told to keep an eye on her, and was now reading from a newspaper in a corner), and watered the dishes to soak the hard bits stuck to hem. Meanwhile, she wiped the table, set the chairs and mopped the floor. She returned to the dishes and had started scrubbing them when she heard the door open.

"Beluga, what's the situation?" Kairee grew tense and kept her mind on her work.

"Nothing much, Captain. No suspicious activity. She's just finished cleaning the floor and table."

"Good." She heard footsteps come up from behind her. She tried to keep her eyes on her hands, rhythmically scrubbing the plates and utensils one by one. A tingle went down her neck when she felt a looming presence behind her casting a very tall shadow. He lingered there a while and left after who knows how long.

"Beluga, keep watching her til she's done, then bring her back to the prisoner's hold. Thanks."

"No problem, Captain." Then she heard the door swing open and shut again. Throughout her remaining time cleaning up and eating (chicken and fish soup with rice as well as bananas), her thoughts wandered about what sort of person Law really was, what his crew thought of him, and about what lay ahead for tomorrow.

After she finished eating and cleaning up the remaining items, Beluga accompanied her back to the hold and locked the door behind her. She wished him a good night and he only grunted in acknowledgement and walked away as a reply, though it was better than being completely ignored.

She decided to finish the second cell's cleaning, despite the pleading in her muscles to rest.

Finally, she plopped on the cot and before she realized it, she was asleep.


	2. Chapter 2: The Things You Overhear

Chapter 2: The Things You Overhear

* * *

(Hello all. This is my very first published fanfic. Please feel free to leave any comments at all and have a great day.)

Disclaimer: I do not known any of the One Piece characters. This is a non-canon work of fiction.

Warning: I do realize that Kairee comes off like a Mary Sue, yes. Haha, I suppose I just ended up writing her that way. Whether that retracts from the experience or not is entirely up to the reader. I do hope you all enjoy the story, though.

* * *

….

"Oi, prisoner! Wake up!"

She cracked an eyelid open and found a wall of white in front of her. Starting and sitting up, she found a large white polar bear wearing a pair of black pants with yellow suspenders standing in front of her. He looked quite impatient, arms folded.

"Ah, um, good morning?" She assumed it was morning. She also tried not to be fazed by the sudden development of meeting a talking bear.

"Hurry up! Captain asked me to get you to the mess room, and I'm missing breakfast because of you," he bellowed.

"Oh… Okay. I'm sorry about that," she remarked, putting her sandals on.

"Hmph. Well, let's just get going."

They made their way up as the bear spoke. "Since you're new here, and you're a prisoner as well, that means you have to listen to my orders."

"Oh. Well, okay."

He stopped abruptly in his tracks as they approached the dining area's door and turned to her. "What did you say?"

"Um… Okay?" she repeated, confused.

"Do… Do you really mean that?" he asked, his expression of pleased shock.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I am a prisoner after all, like you said."

"Ah! Y-Yeah! You're under me, so there's no doubt about it." He turned back towards the direction of their destination, seemingly very self-satisfied, and they began walking again. She kinda felt sorry for him. He probably wasn't listened to a whole lot, and made a mental note to ask him plenty of questions when the opportunity arose.

Polar bear opened the mess room door and they found, as it seemed, nearly all of the crew sitting at the table, halfway through breakfast. They stopped abruptly as the pair entered the room.

"Here she is, Captain."

A lump formed in her throat as everyone fixed their eyes on her. The Captain's lazy smile slackened slightly.

"Soliss-ya, since you'll be working for us, you'll need to refer to us all properly. You've already met Bepo," he gestured to his recent escort.

"I'm the navigator," he boasted to Kairee, who was slightly surprised at this.

The Captain nodded his head slightly at the member sitting across him, who had twisted his body to look behind him. It was bandana-guy. "This is Tern." The man addressed gave an unimpressed grunt and turned back to his food.

"Beluga." Starhat, sitting at the farthest right from the Captain, gave a curt nod.

"Penguin." The Penguin-hat man to Law's right adjusted his hat.

"Puffin." The goggle-hat, sitting to Law's left and looking anxious once again, was looking across the table as if surveying the food.

"Shachi is in the control room acting as a lookout."

"And, of course, me," the Captain leaned forward in his chair, locking his fingers in front of his face, still smiling lazily. "Trafalgar Law. But you already knew that."

"Your breakfast is on the counter, you'll be eating it there. After that, you'll clean this place up. Bepo will give you further instructions afterwards."

The Captain gestured that she was dismissed from the company's presence, and she thankfully made her way to the counter, where a plate of eggs and beans, already cool, were waiting.

She ate without complaint as she heard the crewmembers rise from their chairs one by one after they'd finished their meals, chatted with each other, and eventually left the room to attend to their duties.

When she had done and was about to gather the dishes left on the table to wash them, she found Puffin was still there, saving from leftovers in the fridge. He noticed her watching and his round cheeks seemed to puff off even more, whether with embarrassment or indignation, Kairee was not quite sure.

"I'm the cook," he offered quickly as an explanation. "Sometimes the others like themselves a snack when they're taking a break, so I leave food in here." He was still holding the fridge door open, and through the space, Kairee could see an assortment of fruits on the fridge door.

As though reading her mind, Puffin's eyes darted uneasily left and right before saying, "The Captain tries to make sure we have plenty of fruits and greens in our diet. To be healthy and such." Then, very quickly, he wrapped up what he was doing and left the room, seemingly regretting providing that information on her.

She cleaned the dishes and the surfaces while left to her own thoughts. She couldn't decide whether the Captain-Doctor was better or worse than she had originally expected and thought. After she'd finished her work, she recalled that Bepo was to meet her, but realizing that she might get into trouble for wandering the ship on her own, she decided to wait in the dining area.

Thankfully, Bepo entered the room after a few minutes.

"Oi there, Kairee right?" He seemed in a much better mood than when he'd woken her up this morning.

"Ah yes, that's right."

"Alright. The Captain told me to show you around, so you better pay close attention." She followed him out the door.

They found themselves in the front part of the corridor, or at least what she assumed to be the front.

"To start," Bepo pointed at the room which they'd just left, where Kairee was unceremoniously presented in front of the whole crew. "That's the mess room- a combination of the dining room and kitchen. Puffin cooks all the meals, though some of us usually go and help him with preparing ingredients, and sometimes even taste testing." Bepo licked his lips dreamily.

"Then there's the control room- the brains of the submarine," he gestured at the door at the front of the hall, where she'd tripped in front of everyone. "It's where we monitor the surroundings for danger, maintain the ship's conditions, and chart the course." He pointed his thumb at himself. "So it's my special place, my area of expertise," he elaborated with his head in the air.

"That sound wonderful," she praised. "I never would have guessed you had such an important job."

"Oh, I see…"

'Oh crap, I said something I shouldn't have,' she realized as Bepo hung his head with a gloomy air.

'Time to change the subject,' she thought.

"Um, Bepo? Aren't you going to show me inside to, y'know, explain the mechanisms and whatnot?"

To her relief, Bepo perked back up. "Ah, the Captain said you aren't allowed inside a room unless you're ordered to clean it."

"Oh, I see…."

"Anyway," Bepo continued, pointing to the door across the mess room. "That's the Meeting room. Almost everyone goes in there when they're taking a break, so we call it the Leisure room as well."

Kairee stopped when she noticed the pairs of the metal ladders that lead up to sealed ports at the tops of the ceiling. "Do those lead outside?"

"Yeah, those lead up to the Deck Enclosure and Lookout." He narrowed his eyes at her, "Don't ever think about leaving, though. We'd all drown."

She gulped. "I hate drowning," she assured him.

The bear started down the hall as Kairee followed in his trail. "Next to the Meeting room is the Training room, where we exercise and spar with each other."

"After the Mess room, on the left, is the Infirmary and the Sick Bay. It's also where the Captain sleeps." She clamped her lips tighter, torn between praising the Captain for his dedication or pointing out that it sounded kinda creepy. Both of those things sounded disastrous to say aloud.

"Then, next to that is the Washrooms and Showers, and across that are the Crew's Quarters," he indicated two rooms to the right.

"Finally, there's the Freezer room," he indicated the large door directly in front of them.

They continued the makeshift tour down the ladders that lead to the lower level.

"Of course you know the Prisoner's Hold," he exclaimed with a joking tone.

"Ah, Bepo?"

"Hm?"

"How many prisoners and captives have you already held in there exactly? Excluding me, of course…."

"Oh?" the white bear looked up thoughtfully. "Hmm, I've lost count."

That wasn't very reassuring, she mused miserably. "Well, uh, what do you usually do to them?"

"Ah, sometimes the Captain cuts them up and throws them out to sea," Bepo answered nonchalantly. The young girl couldn't help but voice her anxiety with an "Eh?!" Bepo nodded.

She cautioned one last question. "Do you think the Captain will do that to me too?" her tone was pleading. Bepo seemed to find himself caught off-guard by this query and closed his eyes with his arms folded, looking very perplexed. "Ah well… I don't know about that…."

"But anyway, let's continue," he exclaimed with a loud voice, opening his eyes wide with resolution.

"Oi Bepo, keep it down!"

It was Tern, who had poked his head out of the right-hand room, looking tired and irritated, and closed the door back with force. Bepo hung his head again, muttering an apology, and Kairee sighed.

"That's the Mechanic's room. Beluga is the head mechanic and makes renovations or improvements to the ship, while Tern works on the maintenance."

"That," he pointed to the large iron-wrought door that somehow looked more foreboding and impressive than the rest, "leads to the Engine room. Only the mechanics, the Captain, and whoever is authorized at the time is permitted inside. It's the heart of the whole submarine that keeps it going."

"And finally, the Storage Area," he declared as he opened the left-hand door. He answered Kairee's question before she even asked it. "I'm allowed to bring you inside since most of the cleaning supplies are in here."

"Oh well," she laughed as she stepped inside. Storage was a large room filled with fishing and diving equipment, like specialized suits, fishing poles and attachment wires with pulleys that looked like they could pull things off the bottom of the sea floor. There were other various things, like rope and ladders, shovels, broken chairs, a worn out sofa with the springs sticking out, empty chests and sacks, a pile of old and torn clothes, a pair of crutches, and a folded wheelchair. The clutter wasn't _that_ bad, she remarked internally.

A large safe-like enclosure stood in the corner. "Treasure room, where we keep our valuable cargo and gold." Bepo gestured a warning to which Kairee crossed her heart and made a pledge, and, surprisingly, Bepo nodded with a smile. She was glad to finally have a friend on the ship (as much as she could consider him her friend, anyway).

She found the cleaning supplies, consisting of a mop, a couple of brooms, a dustpan, two buckets, packets of soap and several washcloths all placed in a wooden box with a rope for a handle and carried them outside the room.

"So Bepo, what now?"

"The Captain told me you'll be cleaning the training and Leisure rooms this morning," he said, leading the way back up to the upper level. "Most of us like to train after lunch, so the Training room will probably be empty the whole morning. I'm not sure about the Leisure room, though." He stepped in the hall between the two rooms. "I have to go back to the control room now."

"Thanks a lot," she really was quite grateful for, as it seemed, Bepo looking out for her.

Bepo turned to go, but for a second, he looked back at her, as though he wanted to tell her one more thing. She had a feeling it would be about Shingle.

"You're welcome," he said finally, and left her on her own.

Kairee decided to work on the Training room first.

The room smelled strongly of sweat. A few paces from the door, the metal floor was paneled with wood, probably to give everyone a softer landing during spars.

The room was decorated sparsely, with a few cushions here and there. There were two vertical poles of hard wood that were attached to the floor near the back of the room, wrapped around their diameter with blue padding. These training targets had taken quite a bit of damage and bits of the padding were starting to come off at the edges. The middles had deep depressions on them, obviously indicating the most frequent area of impact.

She set to work sweeping the floor, then wiped the length of the floor with a wet cloth, running from one end of the room to the other barefoot. She took water from a small drinking fountain near the door. She rested a short while afterwards, and decided to throw a few punches on one of the posts to clear her head. She wondered how long she'd have to stay here as a prisoner. Surely it wasn't long til they reached the next island? Perhaps she could slip away if they hit land, though, again she was torn between staying and going, however dismal the circumstances.

She moved on to the Leisure room next. This room was more posh, outfitted by two semicircular couches set facing each other in the middle of the room, where the floor was depressed and set lower. There was also a circular wooden table in between the couches. There was a screen in here as well, similar to the one in the control room, only it was smaller and also turned off. There were two den den mushi sitting on the table, as well as a couple of empty glasses that had seemed to be filled with what smelled like alcohol and a cooler and a few more glasses and mugs under the table. There was a shelf on the wall to the side that displayed several books, which immediately drew the young girl's attention.

There was a novel that seemed to be about a hero and his bear companion (perhaps Bepo's possession), a few books on geography and navigation, books on mechanical engineering, a few cookbooks, some questionably titled books that made the young lady blush, as assortment of magazines, and even a couple on first aid, medicine and the human body.

These were the ones she decided to look through, since she was quite sure they belonged to the Captain. 'Just a peek,' she assured herself, the curiosity overwhelming her. She looked around to make sure no one was watching and retrieved an old white book from the shelf. 'Anatomy for Practical Uses' was written on the cover. She flipped through the book.

The pages were worn from use and age, colored yellow and full of scribbles from several years of reading. She thumbed through the contents, and found that the notes and annotations were written with various strokes, as though the writer had made them at different periods of time in their life, though she was quite sure that they were all by one person. She decided to skip to the back of the book and found handwriting different to what she'd seen so far. It read: 'From Ventus to Aqua. From the human body springs a well of endless potential.'

'Aqua?' she realized, 'that was what the Captain said last night when he thought I was that Shingle person….' The longer she stared at the words on the page, the more a lump formed in her throat. The handwriting looked suspiciously similar to her own.

"What are you doing?" a voice declared behind her. She jumped and turned to find Penguin holding onto the door (which she realized she hadn't closed) with one hand as though he'd just come in.

"I'm sorry," she quickly bowed, held up the books and looked to the book shelf. "I'm supposed to clean this room up but I got distracted by the books," she decided to be as honest as possible. Penguin eyed her and then the book.

"That's the Captain's. It would be best if you didn't touch that without his permission, unless you want to make him mad," he said matter-of-factly, crossing his arms. "I understand, Mr. Penguin," she placed the book back carefully.

"You better get back to work, else I'll have to report you," he said, though, she noticed, not unkindly.

"Thank you, I will," she responded, hurrying to begin dusting and wiping the shelf.

She looked back to find Penguin had gone and closed the door. She didn't dare to open the book again, but as she mulled it over in her head while mopping the floor and wiping the surfaces, she struggled to understand what she had just seen. The penmanship was different for certain letters, she realized as she tried to remember, but ultimately it did remind her of her own handwriting. Then again, there must've been thousands of people who had the same handwriting as her. Heck, she's met a bunch already. Was this all just some elaborate coincidence? She didn't know what to hope for.

She was about halfway through mopping up the entire floor when the door opened and Penguin entered the room, glass in hand. "Are you almost done?" he asked, checking the floor.

"Ah yes. Just the other half to go," she said, smiling. It was a fleeting moment, but she thought she saw Penguin flush a bit as he looked away towards the door. Law emerged from the doorway and her heart jumped.

She tried not to look guilty as he sauntered over to the books and took out the white one she had taken out several moments ago. He took it with him and sat on the couch. Leaning back, he absorbed himself in the book and Penguin sat across him, taking out the cooler and pouring himself a drink from a bottle of purple liquid, both seemingly henceforth ignoring the girl.

She decided to continue on, and once she was close to finishing, she nearly jumped when Law spoke up. "Soliss-ya."

"Y-Yes?" she stammered, heart hammering.

"Once you're done, clean these glasses in the kitchen and bring them back." He didn't look up from the book.

She wrapped up her work and almost rushed out as she picked up the used glasses and left the room. When she come back and replaced the glasses, the Captain was silent, still keeping his eyes on his book. She waited nervously a while, thinking that she might be given other instructions and hoping that she wouldn't get scolded or something.

After several moments of awkwardly standing, she decided leave the room as respectfully as possible and without a word.

"Soliss-ya."

She stopped in her tracks as she was opening the door. She turned and saw the pirate captain get on his feet. "I'll bring you back to your cell. You can give yourself a bath and wait there til you're called again."

The blood rushed out of her and then immediately flushed. What was going to happen if they were alone together?

"Captain!"

Bepo appeared in the doorway. "We need you in the control room."

She watched him carefully and saw him exhale very slowly, almost a sigh.

"Penguin?"

The man got up quickly with a start, nearly spilling some of his drink in his hand.

"I'm sorry but could you bring Soliss-ya to her room instead?" The captain took out the keys from his pocket and gave them to him.

"Ah. Oh course, captain."

The exited the room and split up, left and right, in two pairs.

She was relieved not to be left alone with Law, and Penguin seemed like he was quite civil. She couldn't tell what his hair looked like, since he always wore his 'Penguin' snow-cap, but he was nice enough when he spoke to her. She was still a bit nervous being left alone with just one man, though.

They walked through the corridors in silence, and when she reached the prisoner's hold, she quietly went inside and waited for the bars to close behind her.

"Ms. Soliss." Penguin kept the door open, as though determined to say something.

"Ah… Yes?" She began to feel a little nervous. What could he want with her?

The man hesitated for a while, then said, "Do you have any idea… No, what I mean is… What exactly is your relationship with the Captain?"

This had caught her off-guard.

"I'll answer as honestly as I can," she began a bit sadly and hesitantly. "Captain Trafalgar probably mistakes me for someone else, someone I don't know. I know of him because he has gained a reputation, but, until now, I've never met him. But I'm willing to follow what you guys order me to do, as long as I can leave this place safely."

"I see," he said after some silence, and closed the bar-door and locked it. He stopped for a while, then said. "We don't know anything about that person either. She must have been from the Captain's distant past." And, as though he'd said his peace, he left.

After she bathed, she decided to lay on her cot for a while and get some rest. Hopefully they'd be consistent and give her 3 meals a day, she thought. Despite the complete lack of natural daylight, she knew that it should be lunch time, and so she napped for a while.

She had a short dream. She and Law were standing in a completely blank space. He was gripping her forearm again, but forcefully this time, squeezing tighter and tighter. She tried to release herself but wouldn't let go, and stared at her unwaveringly, expression grave and determined. "Don't lie to me, Kaykay." The words echoed, in and out, as though travelling through water. A pounding noise grew louder and louder around her, and she watched as a giant barrel descended on top of her, growing smaller and smaller once she was trapped. She felt like she couldn't breathe, and she begged in a panic.

Then she woke.

"Miss Soliss?" she heard Penguin call anxiously, rapping on metal. After a while, she heard the metal door open and he had rushed outside her cell. "Are you alright?"

She tried to sit up, but her arm was caught between the wall and the metal chain that held the platform off the ground. She pulled herself out and got up, smiling weakly, heart still doing flips. "I'm very sorry. I fell asleep after laying down," she explained.

"You were asking for help in your sleep," his frown deepened.

"Ah yeah. I had a bad dream…. Anyway, what's up?"

He looked as though he wanted to continue the line of conversation, but thought better of it. "Time for lunch," he gestured for her to follow.

They walked in silence til they reached the mess room and the crew only looked up to their acknowledgement for a second before returning to their meal and their talk. She didn't need to be told and made her way to the kitchen counter, where veggie soup and pork chops were waiting on a lonely plate and bowl.

Listening in on their chatter, she learned that they would reach the next island in a span of two days. She didn't know whether to count that as a good thing or a bad thing….

After lunch had ended, Penguin was told to bring her back to the hold so she could continue cleaning the rest of the prison cells. Again, they said not a word to each other, but in a silence that seemed more mutually civil than antagonistic. As he locked the prison door, however, he gave a half-smile.

"Don't worry, I believe the Captain will just let you go once we reach the shore."

"Thank you," she said, hopeful. The man seemed to flush again, though she couldn't be sure, what with his hat covering half his face and the dim lighting, and he left in a bit of a hurry.

She was almost about through with the third cell when she heard speaking and realized that perhaps some of the crew might be in the other room and left a door open. She couldn't help but strain her ears as she scrubbed the cell.

"- need to repair - and exhaust." There was a clanking of tools and devices.

"Seen - Captain lately?"

"No but - doesn't matter -"

"New girl - might be - acting strange."

"She's definitely trouble. She's probably planning something. Why else did we find her in the crate?" Tern's voice rose up strong amongst the others, full of annoyance. "Ever since she's been here, the Captain's been tense. She's probably some ghost or evil sea demon that's biding its- Oi!"

She jumped, thinking she'd been caught. She heard steps, then the words "Close the door properly, idiots!" and finally the creak of a metal door closing, and heard nothing more.

After finishing all the cells and even the prison's bathroom, she lay on her cot, trying not to think about anything. About an hour went by of tranquil nothingness before she woke up to a strange feeling- the feeling of being watched.

She bolted straight, fists raised and ready, and found Law leaning on the wall opposite her, arms folded.

"Good work," he said, though his expression was cold. Her heart was bounding violently, as though the Surgeon of Death was already using his ability to rip it from her chest, and she lowered her hands.

"You seem to have a knack for cleaning, Soliss-ya," he righted himself and was already heading out. "Follow me."

He lead her upstairs, and she was relieved to be told to clean the hallway with a damp rag or mop ("Don't soak the floor") and left to herself instead of being led off somewhere secluded. The captain entered the Control room.

She filled a bucket with water and set to work wiping the hallway with a fully wrung out damp cloth, starting from the Freezer room towards the Control room. The floor wasn't as filthy as she initially believed it would be, and thankfully no one was passing through the hall.

As she neared the Meeting room, however, she found the door cracked open just a centimeter. 'People must not enjoy having to unlock those heavy doors all the time,' she mused sarcastically. She slowly inched her way towards the room, and the closer she got, the louder the voices got, and she could not stop herself from lingering near the door, listening.

"I don't mind," she heard Beluga say. "Ever since she's come around, I haven't had to do any of the cleaning."

"Well, it's easy for you all to say she's harmless," Shachi replied, "but you weren't there when the Captain brought her downstairs to the prison hold."

"What do you mean?" it was Penguin.

"She was carrying knives and daggers hidden in her sleeves and she shoes," she heard the pouring of a drink followed by a series of gulps. "I'm telling you that she's bad news. I don't trust her in the least."

"But what if she really is that girl the Captain knew?" Penguin said.

"I don't think so. She didn't know anything about it. She's probably some bounty hunter or Marine spy out for the Captain."

"She hasn't gone out of line yet though, or tried anything suspicious. Maybe she's innocent?"

Shachi scoffed. "She's probably just acting nice and obedient so she can lower our guard and then try something."

She decided she'd heard enough and went to refill the bucket in the kitchen. She wished this whole thing could be cleared up soon. She didn't like being branded, even if they did actually have good reasons for being suspicious.

Then, as she was about to leave the mess room, she was bounded back violently, and the bucket clattered empty on the floor, spilling water all over. She looked up and found Shachi, expression evolving from shock to fury, with clothes drenched from the waist down.

"I'm so so sorry-" Her apologies came out in a flurry, but it seemed he wouldn't have any of it.

"What the hell! I'm completely soaked!" he shouted.

"I'm really sorry," she tried again, sinking bak, but he took a few menacing steps towards her, seething with anger.

"Did you watch where you were going?"

"I… No… It was an accident-"

He grabbed her roughly by the sleeve and shook her.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?!"

"No! I didn't!"

"Don't lie!"

"Shachi," a voice said behind them.

The captain was standing in the doorway with hands in his pockets, and the other crew members followed suit, their faces full of surprise and confusion.

"Let her go," he said, voice hard like gravel.

"But Captain, she-"

"It's okay." He looked straight at Kairee, eyes depthless and unreadable once again. "You'll be cleaning the Lavatory and Showers tonight. No dinner." Shachi, after hearing this, promptly let go of her and walked out of the room, muttering that he needed to change.

"Clean this mess, then get to it," was the Captain's last order before he returned to the Control room. The others dispersed as well, one by one, til only Penguin and Bepo were left, watching her as she sank to her knees. Penguin went inside and for a moment she thought he would comfort her, but he took a bottle from one of the barrels, and, with a very regretful look, he left the room. Bepo hung his head, sighed, and left, too, leaving her on her own, fighting the tears that threatened to add to the water on the floor.


	3. Chapter 3: Stand Up

Chapter 3: Stand Up

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(Hello all. This is my very first published fanfic. Please feel free to leave any comments at all and have a great day.)

Disclaimer: I do not known any of the One Piece characters. This is a non-canon work of fiction.

Warning: I do realize that Kairee comes off like a Mary Sue, yes. Haha, I suppose I just ended up writing her that way. Whether that retracts from the experience or not is entirely up to the reader. I do hope you all enjoy the story, though.

* * *

….

After cleaning up the mess and finishing up with the hall, which she finished working on just as everyone had done with their dinner (she was relieved that everyone's shoes were devoid of dirt and grime after being the sub for a few days), she went on to the General Washroom where all of the crew did their business and personal hygiene. She shuddered to think of what she might find there.

When she opened the door, she was relieved to find no one inside, and hoped beyond hope that no one would go in while she was working.

It was… less horrible than she expected, but there was still a lot of work to be done.

The corners were starting to accumulate green grime. Everyone's towels seemed to be hanging on racks on either side of the door, and next to these were a sink and a medicine cabinet, which was filled with toiletries and other hygienic implements. To the left were three shower stalls and to the right were three toilet stalls. At the end of the room was a large laundry basket, already filled with strong smelling, dirty clothes.

As she was about to start on the first shower stall, she heard the door open.

"Kairee?"

It was Bepo.

"Hi Bepo, what's going on?" She was happy it was Bepo and not any of the other men, who she assumed had already formed unsavory opinions of her.

"I'm supposed to check up on you to see that you're working."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," she couldn't help but give a sigh.

He took a moment's pause and then said. "I know you didn't do it on purpose."

Her smile lit up with gratitude. "Thank you. I really appreciate that."

He nodded and left the room, but kept the door open and sat on a chair that was moved into the hall. "I have to wait and keep watch til you're done," he explained. She nodded in reply, and started on the task before her.

After what seemed an eternity of scrubbing foul-smelling tiles and toilets, she had finally finished, and she was completely exhausted and also quite hungry. She regarded her growling stomach sadly and then she and Bepo made their way downstairs and she was in the Prisoner's hold once more. She never thought she'd be so happy to see her dingy cell, and plopped onto the uncomfortable cot without a moment's delay, ready to rest up.

She hadn't realized that Bepo had followed her inside til he spoke up.

"Kairee."

She rolled to her side. "Bepo? What are you still doing here?"

"I got these for you," he replied, and pulled out an apple and banana from his large pockets. "I'm sure you must be starving."

"Bepo… I'm really grateful," she said, but her brow furrowed and she hesitated. "But, what if you get in trouble?" She tried to ignore the rumbling in her gut.

"It's true that I usually don't go against the Captain's orders," he chuckled, half-fondly and half-worriedly, "but…" He placed the fruits in her hands. "This is my way of telling you that you should forgive what he did."

She was confused for a moment. "Do you mean Shachi?"

"Ah, you should forgive him too, I guess, even if he is a huge jerk, but I was mostly talking about the Captain."

The Captain? "What do you mean?"

"Out of the whole crew, I've known the Captain the longest, and he has been my closest nakama for 8 years. He had told me about some parts of his past, but most of the details are still vague to me." He shifted a bit uneasily. "But, I do know that he lost very many important people when he was young…"

He looked down, as though he was slowly collecting his thoughts scattered at his feet. She said nothing and waited in quiet anticipation til he spoke up again. "He once asked me something a few years ago.

Kairee had sat up now and leaned in to listen better.

"He asked me if I ever met a girl, very short, with straight black hair who wore white clothes and a bag on her back wherever she goes."

Bepo paused to look at her, and aside from her hair being straight (hers was wavy) and being very short (because that was just plain mean, no matter how true it was), Kairee fit the description quite well.

"I guess that might've been why he took my backpack, then," she muttered.

"But I can't possibly be that person," she told him. "I've never actually met the Captain til now."

Bepo shook his head. "I believe you when you say you don't remember him. Maybe you just look like her."

"But," he added, "The Captain has definitely been acting different ever since he first saw you. I don't know who Shingle was, but it seems the Captain has been hoping he could meet her again for a long time."

He headed to the cell door. "I can't imagine how he feels right now, meeting someone who looks like the person he knew," he shook his head again. "That's why I'm asking you to forgive him."

Kairee thought for a while and said, with a small smile, "You really care about the Captain, huh?" Bepo gave her a proud and pleased grin, then bade her good night before leaving. She heard the now familiar click of the jail door being locked, and fell asleep to daydream musings of Captain Trafalgar and his crew.

….

No one had come to wake her when she opened her eyes the following morning. Was it morning, even? It was dreary, waking up to the interior of a sub where you didn't know the time of day. Maybe that's why some of the people here had such short tempers. She decided to bathe before she could be whisked away to do another chore.

Just as she'd cleaned herself up and dried her hair, Beluga had appeared at the entrance and unlocked the door. He said not a word as they clambered up to the higher level and entered the Mess room. The Captain, Shachi and Bepo were absent from the company, which was a weight off her shoulders more than anything, but at the same time she worried Bepo might have gotten into trouble from taking the fruit or speaking with her.

She ate her breakfast in relative silence, with the occasional background chatter of the crew as they finished their meals and headed off to their duties. She cleaned the table and the dishes, leaving the leftovers to Puffin, who seemed to prefer being the one to put them away while his eyes were darting suspiciously around.

"Miss Soliss." She realized that Beluga had called her from the doorway just as she was finishing up her work. "The Captain gave orders for you to clean the Sick Bay after washing the dishes." With that, he left.

The Sick Bay? She recalled the tour Bepo had given her yesterday (Something which seemed so much further in the past) and remembered it was right next to the Mess room…

And it was where the Captain slept.

She began to perspire at the thought that he might be in there. Perhaps he was waiting in there right now? Well…. It couldn't be that bad, right? After her talk with Bepo last night, perhaps they could converse calmly and she could find a way to convince the Captain that she really wasn't Shingle?

With more conviction, she left the Mess room, picked up her cleaning supplies, and paused in front of the imposing room. With a nervous breath, she opened the door.

"Captain Trafalgar?" she spoke upon entering. No one answered. Gingerly she closed the door behind her and looked around. The room was light blue, and the floor covered in cream white tiles. In front of her were a pair of double doors that took up almost the entire wall, which, she assumed, led to the actual clinic area. It was immaculately clean, and it didn't look as though she needed to be there at all.

A bed, already made, stood in the corner on the right. To the left was a desk with a lamp, bookshelf, a large cabinet and a few small pots with plants and flowers. On the desk was her backpack.

She was about to rush towards it, but stopped herself halfway and wavered. Had he checked inside? Did he take anything? Surprisingly, her bag looked relatively unperturbed and unopened, as though it was just sitting there, waiting for her to arrive. She looked around her. She was sure the Captain wasn't around, but if she was caught….

The door opened and she turned to find Law entering the room. He seemed unsurprised by her presence but was eyeing her carefully. "Planning to take your bag back?" he said, more a statement than a question.

"Oh…. No," she replied, hands folded meekly in front of her. "I am hoping that you will return it to me sooner or later," she added hopefully, casting her glance towards her bag.

"So, where do I clean?" she asked, dodging her eyes around the room. "Inside here," he walked past her languidly and entered through the double doors. Through them, she found a fully-decked operating room covered from top to bottom in tiles. There was a regular plinth as well as an operating table, and several mechanical devices and instruments on stands or propped up against the wall or inside glass cabinets. There were counters with drawers that were probably filled with scalpels and other surgeon's tools. On the floor she noticed flecks of dried blood around the table and the air was coated with the smell of antiseptic.

It was like a completely different place, so much so that she hadn't realized she had her mouth hanging open as she took in the room.

"Interested in medicine?" The Captain's voice shook her out of her stupor. He was leaning on the wall, eyeing her once again, mouth a hard line.

"Ah, well, I've always just been curious," she answered carefully, as she decided to busy herself by setting down the supplies she had been carrying in the corner and picking up what she needed. She began wiping the counters nearest her. All the while, she could feel him watching her, as though he was surveying her features and movements, trying to justify his belief that Kairee was someone she claimed she didn't know. The air was strained for several minutes with intense silence, as she wiped and brushed the tiles, wishing he would just leave her be.

"Soliss-ya," he spoke, and she started when she realized he had gone over to the drawers as well, a few steps away from her, as he seemed to be inspecting his medical equipment. "How did you find yourself in that crate?"

"Well," she said carefully, "I have a tendency of landing in unusual places." She tried her best to look away from him, but what she said wasn't really a lie. She heard him rearrange his equipment. "But," she added quickly, "I didn't intend to be a stowaway on this ship, or any other ship for that matter. I didn't mean to be here."

There was no reply, until he asked another question, as though indifferent to her answers.

"Where do you come from?"

"Well, umm… Nowhere, really. I've been a traveler for a while now."

"Is that so," the sound was much too close, and, turning, she found him right in front of her, his tall frame quite imposing over her tiny form.

"I don't suppose you've ever met Claviger Shingle," he said, and his eyes were away again, as though clinging on to something on the horizon, even as he was staring at her, into her soul.

"She looks exactly like you," he leaned in closer to her. "I have almost no doubts that you two are the same person."

She took a step back. "Please stop this," she said. "I'm telling you Captain Trafalgar that I've never gone by that name, and I don't know you."

He stood up straight again, giving her an icy stare. "The name Kaykay means something to you," he stated. "Yes, but…" She stopped herself before she could say any more. Nobody was supposed to know that.

"But?" he pressed, hands firmly closed at his sides.

"I… That's only my nickname…"

"That was Shingle's nickname as well."

"But it could all just be a coincidence!" she insisted. "I'm telling you that I don't know you!"

"And I know," he retaliated, "that you're Shingle! Why do you have to hide it when it's obvious? You look and talk like you did all those years ago, so I can't be fooled, Shingle! No matter what you do or say, I know that it's you. So why-"

He suddenly stopped his tirade and looked at her, not with anger and desperation as when he was shouting, but with confusion and sorrow and betrayal.

"You don't remember me," he said, as if testing the words in the air and fearing that they would be lost the moment they were said. He was not looking at her anymore, but down at something invisible at his feet, as though there broken pieces of a cherished possession shattered on the ground.

She watched him turn away and didn't get a chance to say anything, he spoke.

"Get out," he ordered, a sharp and driving command.

She hesitated, and then rushed to pick up her custodial things and left the room.

She rushed back quickly to her cell after finding the room open, and after flopping onto her bed, she felt much more tired than she should have been. She buried her face in her pillow and willed herself to block out all her thoughts and feelings.

After a while, she realized she'd fallen asleep. She wondered how long she was out; perhaps the Captain had resolved against continuing to feed her. A dismal way to die, indeed…. She hugged her pillow, allowing herself to mull over the recent events. What if, in fact, she was truly the one mistaken, and that she really had forgotten Law? But how, and why? None of it made any sense, and perhaps prying would only make it worse, especially now that the Captain seemed so distraught over her apparent amnesia.

"Miss Soliss," Penguin's voice stirred her from her thoughts, and he appeared at her door. "Please follow me; lunch is ready," his voice seemed quiet and his gaze didn't meet her in the same way that it did before. She could tell from his stride that he was distracted, and she concluded that something may have happened with the Captain.

The crew was silent as they entered, progressing through their meal without particular gusto, and when they thought she hadn't noticed, they eyed her questioningly. 'They all probably know that something happened between us,' she picked at her food, feeling her appetite wane.

She attended to the dishes per the usual, and was approached when she was finished by Penguin.

"Miss Soliss," he regarded her less warily, this time around, but still with some detachment. "Please follow me, we'll be working on the laundry."

They headed to the shared washrooms, and Penguin went inside and retrieved the large laundry basket, which he brought out into the middle of the hallway. Then, for the first time since she'd found herself on the sub, she watched as Penguin climbed the metal rungs up to one of the sealed passages on top of the ceiling and opened the hatch that led to the Deck Enclosure.

She had a spark of panic that water might come gushing in, but Penguin hoisted himself up through the hole and after a second, a light flickered on up above. A moment later, there was a grinding noise and the rectangular patch in the ceiling turned out not to be an architectural flaw but a hatch from which she saw Penguin lean over to speak to her.

"Hook the basket to the ropes," he instructed as he lowered down four ropes each with a hook at the end attached to a pulley system. She did as told and Penguin drew up the basket and placed it aside. "Now come up," he told her before closing the rectangular hatch.

She watched her step as she made her way up the ladder. She was surprised to find a yellow-walled room, with a door at the front and back and several porthole windows that gave her a glimpse at the watery depths outside. There were ropes and chains on the walls; nets, a cage and a stretched were propped up on the wall. To one side was an area sectioned off with a low partition half a foot high, wherein she noticed a pair of faucets, several basins, washboards, drains, and some low stool chairs. This was the place where Penguin brought over the basket full of dirty clothes.

They separated the colors into groups without a word exchanged. Kairee silently followed his lead as he rolled up his pants and sleeves and filled the basins with water. He seemed to pause for a second, as though conflicted, then stationed himself at the basin with the filthiest apparel, the underwear, and made a very nauseated face, but after looking back up at Kairee, she saw that shadowy flush of his face once again as he quickly grabbed some soap and bleach, handed it to her, and pointed urgently at the pile of white shirts. She did not object to this, and began her work.

The minutes passed as they sat across each other, working on each article of clothing one at a time. When it was necessary, he would tell her where the shirt had to go next ("That basin," and he'd point), or tell her how much soap to use, but always in a low mutter, which she found somewhat endearing.

Minutes turned to hours, and though there were still a few piles left, she noticed that Penguin was starting to tire out. She cleared her throat. "Mr. Penguin."

He jumped at the noise, "Ah… Yes, what is it?"

She picked out her words carefully, "We've been washing for a while. If you'd like to go take a break, I won't have much of a problem on my own."

He looked surprised at first, and then frowned. "I'm not tired if that's what you're thinking," he said somewhat indignantly, washing the pants he was holding with particular effort.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it in that way. It's just that you've already done a lot, and I know this is supposed to be my job."

He stopped, sighed, and then looked away. "If you open any of the doors to try to escape, you're going to drown in here," he said matter-of-factly as he got up and walked to the hatch leading down. Soon he was out of sight.

She continued on with the remaining clothes, but after a few minutes of his absence, she heard the clink of glass She turned to find two glasses, and then a hand poked through the hole and placed a bottle on the floor and finally Penguin himself, carrying a tray with one hand and setting it down, came through the hatch and closed it back behind him.

When he set the tray on a spare stool next to her, she found an assortment of fruits and brownies, way too much for just one person to eat. She looked at him questioningly, as he took a seat beside the tray while bringing along the glasses and bottle.

He wordlessly poured the yellow liquid into both glasses and handed one over to her. She took the glass without thinking, and finally said, "What's all this?"

He drank a generous amount from his cup. "It's a just some food for a break. Don't worry about it too much. Just be grateful and eat." He took an apple and bit into it. "And don't worry about the drink. It's just lemon juice," he added with one of his half-smiles.

She decided to accept his offer, muttering a small thank you before taking one of the brownies and sipped from her glass. They ate in relative silence, but though Kairee wasn't really one for conversations at times like this, his generosity compelled her to speak.

"If you don't mind my asking, where did you get these brownies?" She mentally slapped herself for such a weak opening line.

"Ah well, we bought some from the previous island on a whim, and they've been sitting in the fridge for a while so I thought it'd be good to get rid of them." He took one, inspecting it briefly, and ate it.

"Besides, you won't be here for much longer."

"What?" Her eyes widened, and she nearly spat out her drink.

"S-Sorry, that's not what I mean!" He flustered a bit and then sighed when he realized she'd thought through his wording that they might do something to her.

"What I mean is that we'll be reaching the next island tomorrow, noon at the latest by what Bepo said. By then, the Captain will probably let you go…." His voice lowered to a mutter near the end, and though she was reluctant to speak about the event, she wanted to know how Law was doing.

"The Captain is angry with me, I know," she stated, looking down and speaking softly. "We spoke and I tried to convince him that I wasn't who he thought I was, but it ended up that he believes I've forgotten him…" She looked up and saw that he was contemplating her words deeply.

"I didn't mean for that to happen, but…"

"I understand," he said after some pause.

"How is he, though?"

He looked at her for a long time, and she was going to repeat her question, but he replied. "He used to seem distracted, when you first arrived," he explained, "but since this morning, he's been keeping to himself. He's usually like that anyway, but now he's tense and unapproachable." Penguin swirled the drink in his hand.

"We've never seen him like this before."

"I see…."

They ended the conversation at that, finishing what was left of their snacks and continued with the work ahead. After they had washed the clothes, Penguin drew the ropes and stretched them taut from one side of the room to the other, but kept ample space for passage through the doors and hatches and they hung the clothes out to dry. Once they finished, Penguin lowered the laundry basket back down, and then he carried the bottle and glasses and she the tray and they made their way down the ladder.

"Can you bring these to the kitchen? Put the bottle in the fridge and then I'll bring you back to your room." He handed her the items and carried the now empty basket towards the lavatories and she turned to head to the kitchen but stopped in her tracks. She watched as Shachi exited the Control room and his face soured upon seeing her.

She decided to keep her head low as she continued forward, and resolved not to provoke or mind him in any way. She passed him in the hall, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, she felt herself falling forward, and, quickly, she let go of the tray and grabbed the two glasses and bottle before they fell, and landed on her stomach, getting the wind blown out of her. The tray clattered noisily to the ground. She heard a grunt of frustration from behind her, and got up quickly, facing the upset-looking man.

"Why did you do that?" she knit her eyebrows, sensing his aggression rising.

"That was your own fault, you clumsy idiot," he declared.

Kairee paused, unsure as to how to proceed. If she insisted, she'd get into trouble, but at the same time, Shachi was getting on her nerves and treading right on the line of her patience. Granted, what he was doing was out of frustration, but she hadn't done anything to provoke him on purpose. It was ridiculous to be treated this way.

"Hey, what's going on?" Penguin came rushing from down the hall, and Puffin, as well as Beluga, came out from the Mess room and froze at the spectacle before them.

Shachi scoffed. "She fell over her own feet and of course, she blamed it on me."

"That's not true, you tripped me," she defended.

"Oi, you two, stop-"

"Penguin, this is between her and me," Shachi cut him off. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were helping her." At this, Penguin stiffened and fell silent.

He stepped into her personal space, face only inches apart.

"You're calling me a liar?" he threatened.

She stood her ground, feeling her face heat up with fury.

"Yeah, I am."

At this, suddenly, he laughed, as though the tiny girl standing up for herself was the most humorous thing he'd seen all day. He then turned and walked away.

"You don't wanna mess with me, girly, not if you value being able to walk."

"You wouldn't even beat me if you tried." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Shachi froze, and looked back. "What did you say?"

He mouth went dry at her own brashness.

"Well?!" he said menacingly as he marched back towards her. She wanted to calm down, but seeing him like this infuriated her immensely, and she decided to let her emotions go.

"You heard me," she stated, breathing out through her teeth, "if you're not careful, you'll get yourself hurt."

He looked down at her, flaming like a bottled up forest fore, and he grit his teeth as though he was trying to dislocate his own jaw.

"Training room," he barely said and turned towards the said room. She was confused for a moment, but understood and followed him. Soon they found themselves inside, and the others who had been watching stood by with their worried expressions and Shachi and Kairee took their places on either side of the wood-paneled floor.

Penguin approached the young lady, expression gravely anxious.

"You're going to get in trouble."

She looked at him, brow set, but smiled at him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Penguin, but I can't stand his attitude, and I can't stand being treated like shit."

He seemed taken aback, but he drew close to her and muttered low. "Look, I don't want you to get hurt…"

"I won't get hurt," she replied, "and if I do, it'll be my own fault, won't it?"

He realized that she wouldn't back down, so he stepped aside.

"You're going to regret ever having sneaked into that crate," Shachi taunted, readying his battle stance.

"I didn't sneak in," she replied, getting ready as well.

They tensed and their eyes bore down on each other.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you because you're a girl."

"Oh don't worry, I share the same sentiments."

She almost heard the twig snap.

He lunged at her with a battle cry and threw a punch, but he fell to the ground. She had deftly dodged his attack and stepped backwards away from him.

"You…!" he got up, jumped and crashed a swift kick on top of her, but she crouched and, with a fluid motion of her arm, swiped his leg away and he dropped to the floor again. She heard the surprised gasps of the other crew members, and watched him get back up again.

"You're gonna pay for that," he threw a punch, then another, and another, until his hands were a flurry of jabs at her, but she dodged and deflected each one, her face lined with fierce concentration. Then, she grabbed his arm, using it like a gymnast's bar, and threw herself into the air, landing behind him. She did a leg sweep so that Shachi came down once more.

She kept her distance again and said, "Why don't you just stay down?" He got up again, panting this time, and said, "I'm not gonna let some little bitch beat me."

"I really don't want to hurt you," she encouraged with a frown. At this, Shachi came rushing at her, and this time her hand was raised, ready to knock him out.

"That's enough."

At the sound of the Captain's voice, Shachi stopped his run and Kairee lowered her hand and her face drained of blood. He was glaring at her, and the dark circles around his eyes seemed even more sullen than before.

"You will leave this ship once we reach land. Until then, you will be locked in your cell." She remained frozen in place, unable to shake from the Captain's gaze, which looked pained and angry.

She felt something soft and fluffy nudge against her shoulder.

"Cmon, let's go…" Bepo softly implored, pushing her gently and her legs complied. They walked out of the room and though their steps were quick, it seemed a thousand years til they arrived at the Prisoner's Hold.

She walked straight into her cell and collapsed on the cot, feeling the tears straining to fall on her pillow. She heard Bepo lock the cell door, then he said, "Will you be hungry?"

She did not look up as the water welled in her eyes, "No, I'm good. Penguin ate some food earlier and gave some of it to me. Thanks a lot though, Bepo. For everything."

She felt him linger longer, then heard his steps out the door, and the familiar click of the lock as the steady, silent flow of tears rained from her eyes.

She drifted away willingly, almost desperately, into her sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: The Past Comes Back

Chapter 4: The Past Comes Back To Haunt You

* * *

(Hello all. This is my very first published fanfic. Please feel free to leave any comments at all and have a great day.)

Disclaimer: I do not known any of the One Piece characters. This is a non-canon work of fiction.

Warning: I do realize that Kairee comes off like a Mary Sue, yes. Haha, I suppose I just ended up writing her that way. Whether that retracts from the experience or not is entirely up to the reader. I do hope you all enjoy the story, though.

* * *

….

She was suddenly woken by a violent quaking. She grabbed on to the suspended cot for dear life as the shaking lasted for several moments, then slowly lessened to a stop.

"What the hell was that?" she wondered aloud, then realized that perhaps they had hit land. She decided to sit and wait. After all, the Captain had said that she'd be leaving as soon as they hit shore. Several minutes passed, however, and nobody had come to get her. She strained her ears while waiting at the Prison's entrance, and after a few moments, she heard a din of activity coming from the level above. There were voices roaring in excitement and stamping about. She was beginning to have a bad feeling about things.

"Boys, check down that ladder!" she heard. It was not a voice she recognized.

"You got it," a voice replied, followed by another that sounded nearly identical, "Boss." She heard a shuffle of quick footsteps down the ladder and quickly she used her ability.

Her body disappeared from her sight, every particle of it was now a wisp of wind. Just in time, two men appeared at the entrance, peering inside the hold. They saw nothing, of course, but Kairee had to be careful. Her logia ability allowed her to become the wind, but in order to be called wind, it had to keep blowing and moving. It seemed that in this form, there was no inherent ability ot keep still, so she gusted lightly back and forth through her cell room and a short distance from the entrance to observe them.

The two men were twins, both with slim and angular, and they had the longest arms she'd ever soon dangling down several inches past their knees making her realize that they were probably members of the Longarm tribe, though she'd never actually seen one in person. They both had long hair. But one tied it in a braid and the other had it spiked up in a spire over his head.

"You think anybody's here, bro?" the spiked one asked.

"Nah, what about you bro?"

"Me neither, bro."

They left after this exchange, as it seemed, to check the other rooms. She decided to trail them and find out what happened. Even if they did treat her distastefully, she hoped the crew hadn't gotten hurt… or worse.

They checked the Storage room and they wondered at the large enclosure that was the Treasure Storage. They attempted to open it, but it wouldn't budge, and they resolved to get back to it later.

As they turned out to the hallway, the braided hair said, "Hey bro?"

"Yeah, bro?"

"I felt a weird chill just now, bro."

"Ack, you did too, bro?"

"Yeah, bro."

They nodded to each other and quickened their pace a bit as they checked the Mechanics room. When they opened the Engine room, and a billow of steam blew in their faces, they quickly closed the door and rushed upstairs.

She tried her best to keep her breeze as light as possible, and to keep her distance as she followed them. They headed to the Control room, and inside a large, muscular man with shaggy red hair in a brown coat was waiting. He had a rectangular face and very long arms, like the brothers did, but on his left arm was attached a hook instead of a hand. She lingered at the door as they spoke.

"So boys, find any more of the crew straggling around?" he asked, his tone casually cheery with a mischievous grin.

"Nuh-uh, Boss," said braid hair.

"Didn't find anybody," spire-hair finished.

"Heh. Well. once those cowards fond their captain and they came running back, we can trap him and finally settle an old score."

"Still," he smiled widely, with an excited gleam in his eye while he watched the monitor that displayed an empty, grass-filled forest, "I never expected that young boy to stumble into our territory after all these years. And he's been making a name for himself, too. How the times fly, huh?" He shrugged with an amused chuckle while lazily musing at his hook hand. "I wonder if that woman is in his crew as well… She has to be."

The whole time the boss was speaking, his two lackeys seemed rather uninterested in what he had to say, and were nudging each other's sides. This turned into a silent squabble, and, as it happened, spire-hair was pushed just a bit too much and stumbled backward, right into Kairee's path.

He jumped forward with a yelp and shuddered. "I felt that chill again, bro!" He pointed at the empty hallway, and the other two rushed out of the Control room, while Kairee retreated farther back farther away from them.

"What did you say, Lassert?" the boss's eyes narrowed and scanned the hall suspiciously.

"It's true, boss!" Lassert insisted, spreading his arms and walking about, trying to feel for the breeze.

"We felt it downstairs too, Boss!" said braid-hair, who had joined his brother in feeling about the space.

The large man halted as realization dawned on his face. "Wait… Could it be?" he looked up swiftly at the hatch that led outside.

"Buraki, close that hatch! She's inside that sub, don't let her escape!"

No sooner had she processed the words he'd said had she managed to rush up the hallway, blast past Buraki, who had started to climb up the ladder and now fell to the floor from the force of the gale, and escape into the Deck enclosure.

She materialized and had only a second to see their dumbfounded faces as she closed the hatch on top of them and locked it tight, setting all of her weight on keeping it locked. If she could just keep it locked like this til Law and the crew returned, they could-

She jumped just as she was about to be grabbed from behind, but bas she was turning into wind, she felt something cold and hard close around her wrist, and she suddenly materialized and fell to the ground, every finber of her body feeling heavy, weak, and useless.

She looked up and found another Longarm, who himself seemed to be triple-jointed with upper limbs even longer than those she'd seen the first three with, and he towered over her. In his hand was the other end of the seastone cuffs that held her, and he grinned at her sinisterly, his tall and scrawny form making him look akin to a spindly spider having caught its dinner.

"Where do you think you're going?" His voice was like sandpaper, and he said this as he placed the other cuff on her free wrist. She felt quite powerless as she was forced to kneel by her wrists.

"Ah, good work, Sersis." The boss climbed up through the hatch and eyed the young girl before him, and his smile spread from ear to ear.

"Well look who we have here! I knew those seastone cuffs would come in handy. It's nice to meet you again, young Miss. I've been looking forward to seeing you again for a long time." He bowed low in front of her. "Don't tell me you don't recognize me?"

"No I don't, actually," she replied, expression hard.

"But you'll remember us!" Buraki suddenly spoke up, his expression annoyed and seething.

"Yeah," Lassert continued, as they bent down over her and studied her face, taking it in one hand and rotating it roughly from side to side. "There's no doubt about it," he declared confidently.

Buraki agreed. "This is definitely that girl who wrecked our boats all those years ago."

"But she doesn't look like she's grown at all!" interjected Lassert.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, "But I don't know either of you and I don't know what you guys are talking about. So just let me go! And what have you done with the crew?"

"Just as feisty as ever, I see," the boss said after a hearty laugh. "Well, if you need reminding as to who I am, I don't have any problem with that." He took a bow, but whether mocking or genuine, she wasn't sure.

"I am Captain Ferrio Grave of the Strongarm Pirates, but back when we first met I was a simple bandit gang leader. Ring any bells?"

"I'm pretty sure you have me mistaken," she responded coldly.

He laughed again. "Well, no matter. You don't have to worry about your little crew, either. Soon enough they'll come right back and you can watch as we kill them all." He grinned sinisterly, and said it with such casualness that it made her shudder.

She was picked up and roughly carried outside on to the deck. She found that what she had seen on the Control room's screen had only been half of the view. They were surrounded by thickets of mangrove trees, their vines covering each other in thick knots, and instead of land, the ground was patched with green and sticky-looking marshes. It seemed that the sub was quite deep in the muck of a marshy pool and the atmosphere was humid and thick with the call of birds that could not be seen. Another longarm, with a very round body and wave-shaped hair, was standing on lookout, scouting as though he could peer yonder the tress.

"See anything so far, Barm?" Grave asked him.

"No sign of them yet, Boss," he reported, watching the thickets, when suddenly he gasped and pointed. The mangrove trees beyond stirred, and, emerging from the dark overgrowth came another large man, even larger than Grave, who was rushing hurriedly towards them.

"Umeri's lured them back."

"Looks like they're here!" declared Grave excitedly. "Get ready, boys!"

After a few moments, the Heart Pirates emerged as well, running into the marshy clearing, with Law leading the crew and halting at the sight before him.

"Hey there, little Captain," Grave greeted while leaning over the deck's rails and projecting his voice across the clearing. "You must still remember me, right?"

"It can't be…" Law muttered, studying the man and his crew.

"You're the leader of those bandits from Minion Island, aren't you?"

"Give the kid a prize!" Grave laughed loudly. "Then I bet you'll remember this?" He raised his claw hand up to the dim light coming through the foliage, and it glinted dangerously.

"You see, ever since that fateful day, I gave up the bandit life and took to the seas. It seemed the only smart thing to do at the time. I became a Captain and now we're the Strongarm Pirates. And wouldn't you know it? Here we all are again! What's it been, ten years?"

Law eyed the claw silently and said nothing for a while, then he looked to Kairee, and she saw his jaw harden.

"Your business is with me. Even though they look exactly the same, that girl that you've taken hostage isn't the one I was with back in Parvul. She's got no part in this."

To this, Grave laughed again heartily and wiped the tears from his eyes. "You really think we'll believe a lie like that? We saw her use her wind ability. There's absolutely no doubt about it!"

Kairee saw Law's eyes widen upon hearing about her ability, and even her own head was buzzing. Did that mean Shingle had an ability similar, if not identical, to her own? If that was true, then she really could be her, no matter how little sense it made or how improbable it was.

"Besides, even if she's not the same young lady from all those years ago," he smiled at her maliciously and it chilled her to her very core, "We still plan on having a little fun with her, don't we boys?"

The crew whooped nastily in agreement.

"If anyone's getting their hands on her first-"

"-It should definitely be us." Buraki and Lassert jeered as they gestured at touching her.

"Don't you dare put a damned hand on her," Law's face turned dark and seething, his rage kept in check just underneath the surface but still ready at any moment to burst at the seams. "Or else none of you might live to regret it."

Grave smirked and cocked his head to the side. "Oh? We'll see about that, won't we?" He pushed Kairee to the back of the group and she fell on her behind with a thump.

"Listen up, kid. I could very easily just threaten this girl with torture or death to force you to do whatever I ask, even give yourself up in exchange for her life," he declared confidently. "But lucky for you, that's not how I'm gonna play the game today. No matter how much I want to see both of you grovel and beg, I've always dreamt of digging this claw into your face in a good old-fashioned fight. Then I can play with you two and your crew however I please."

"So, let's get this thing started, shall we?" The Strongarm Captain's eyes flashed with surging excitement, and he raised his arms from his sides, gesturing as though he were carrying a very heavy ball in each hand and trying to lift them above his head. At his movements, their surroundings began to shake and writhe about around them.

The Heart Pirates struggled to keep their balance and looked around them with wide eyes as the thick twisted vines that draped the large marshland tress came alive, like snakes slowly waking from a deep slumber and rising to engage the trespassers in their territory.

Kairee gave a loud yelp as the animated barky tendrils picked her up from the floor and lifted her up to the highest part of the sub, tying her fast to a large pole that extended up some meters into the air. She watched, feeling quite helpless as the events unfolded in front of her.

"Watch out, everyone!" Law warned as the Strongarm crew rushed to position themselves around the perimeter of the Heart Pirates, as though they had rehearsed their moves many times before. The animated vines snaked and slithered their way towards the now cornered crew, and very suddenly, the vines lunged towards them. They all dodged, but several of them had been caught around their arms or legs and they were tied fast.

"What the hell?"

"We can't get them off!"

"Like my Tangle-Tangle fruit's ability, little Captain?" Grave had jumped off the deck, and joined them in the fray. Law, who had been caught around his ankles, quit his struggling and gave a smirk while drawing his nodachi.

Grave's smile disappeared and he had just managed to warn his crew, "Fall back, boys!" when Law summoned a large blue sphere that engulfed him and the Heart Pirates. The Strongarm pirates had only narrowly escaped getting caught inside, and stood some meters away from the perimeter.

"Hoo, that was a close one," Grave remarked, his grin returning as he watched the younger Captain cut off the restraining vines, which then fell limp and lifeless after getting cut, and staying where he was, he slashed the air towards his companions and the vines that bound them were cut as well and they were free.

"Huh, sphere's a lot bigger than I remember. Just think, if you'd been caught in that," Grave told his crew, almost nonchalantly, "you'd end up just like my hand here."

"Don't worry," Law interjected while facing Grave. "Both you and your crew will be in pieces when we're through."

Law's crew drew closer to him after he wordlessly beckoned them over, and he muttered a few things to them while Grave scoffed, amused.

"Don't tell me you're going to spend this whole fight strategizing in your little blue ball, Captain Law?"

Just as Grave ended his taunt, he had only enough time to raise his hook hand up in front of him to block when Law had rushed at him and driven his nodachi down at him in a powerful slash.

"Boss!" Grave's crew were poised to rush to his help, but before they could take a step, the Heart Pirates, after being given their orders, now charged at the other crew and engaged them. Each one had his target chosen and they all fought in a flurry of blows and dodges, both sides using only martial arts as their weapon.

Meanwhile, Law smirked as he had his gaze and blade locked on Grave, and though the Longarm had more physical strength and was not easily overpowered, the younger captain said haughtily, "I think a little strategizing in a blue ball would do you some good."

A blue spinning sphere appeared in his hand and Grave swiftly jumped back, motioned his hands and the vines around them rose up high and came down over the heart Captain like a green tsunami, but the sphere had expanded before they could ensnare him and were quickly cut down with an easy spinning slash of his sword. Grave had only enough time to escape from the sphere's perimeter before the younger captain had closed the distance between them and they parried each other's blows as the larger man continued to widen their gap, and Law, getting bombarded by vines from all sides, cut them down and pursued his opponent.

"Clever little captain, aren't you?" Grave spat, no longer smiling, and breaking into occasional fits of panting as their chasing wore on. "Keeping your attacks on me stops me from using my ability on the others," he was a good distance from Law at this point and let loose several vines as the latter cut them down all at once, "and you get the chance to slice me up when you get close enough."

Law lunged at Grave once again, who raised his vines for defense. "Don't you ever shut your mouth?" he remarked while slicing away at the vines to reach his target.

"If you keep running it, you'll end up getting your tongue cut out." Law warned while standing tall after the last vine in front of him had been cut down, and Kairee could tell he was feeling the strain of his constant offensive wave, but he was far from being out and was gaining the upper hand.

She turned her eyes to the others down below her. Bepo was facing off against Sersis and she watched as the bear's quick reflexes helped him dodge an oncoming barrage of punches. Penguin and Shachi were taking on the twins together, and the pair and teamwork almost as good as the Longarm brothers. Tern was battling the round Longarm Barm and threw a very heavy punch straight into his gut. Finally, Beluga and Puffin were dodging left and right from the blows of the largest Strongarm, Umeri, who swung his arms about like wrecking balls. Though all of the crew were having trouble finding stable footing on the marshy ground, none of them had gotten any serious hits and were slowly getting accustomed to the difficult terrain, all while battling the enemy that had doubtless been trained for combat there.

The two Captains, as it seemed, had also been monitoring their subordinates from out of the corners of their eyes while their own battle ran on, and Law began to smirk.

"I'm sure even you can admit that this battle's already decided," he readied himself for, as it seemed, his final strike. Grave, however, darted his eyes left and right expectantly, as though the trees were whispering to him, then he looked up at the sky, and suddenly he burst into laughter.

"Oh yeah, I quite agree with you there, little Captain! This fight of ours is already decided."

As if on cue, the air around them started to get heavy, and a dense fog seemed to emerge right out of the forest and envelope the clearing, blanketing everyone caught up in their battles with both a cover and a blindfold. Kairee heard the voices of the Heart Pirates rise up in confusion and frustration, and it seemed as though she were the lone soul who could see everyone's position, as the top of their heads were the only parts that weren't obscured by the thick mist.

Grave's laugh echoed loud and distorted through the whiteness, "I'll give you and your crew a fair warning, little Captain. You're all at a horrible disadvantage out here."

Towards the rightmost side, she could make out the familiar Penguin hat and a green casquette turning about frantically. Then out of the fog jumped Lassert, brandishing a dagger and about to slice through the air at his target.

"Shachi, above you! Knife!" She saw his hat halt for a split second before sinking into the fog as the blade came swiftly down and Lassert disappeared into the white expanse as well, and then a yelp of pain. She had no time to worry, however, because advancing upon Penguin was Buraki, who had also jumped up as his brother had to get a glimpse of his enemy's position, and was carrying another dagger in hand.

"Penguin! Dagger!" Heading her warning, Penguin seemed to block his arm just in time before they both fell into the complete cover of the mist.


	5. Chapter 5: Saviors

Chapter 5: Saviors

* * *

(Hello all. This is my very first published fanfic. Please feel free to leave any comments at all and have a great day.)

Disclaimer: I do not known any of the One Piece characters. This is a non-canon work of fiction.

Warning: I do realize that Kairee comes off like a Mary Sue, yes. Haha, I suppose I just ended up writing her that way. Whether that retracts from the experience or not is entirely up to the reader. I do hope you all enjoy the story, though.

* * *

….

To Kairee, it was plain to see that the longarms were adept at fighting in this environment to confuse and overpower their enemies. If only she could use her ability, she'd be able to blow all the fog away! Right now, all she could do to help was cream at them to dodge or block or…. A moment of realization dawned on her as she figured out what she needed to do.

"Bepo! Duck and leg sweep at 5 o'clock!" She could barely see his ears twitching as he listened and Sersis, making a long swipe of his arm holding a deadly blade, when the bear ducked low and brought his opponent down with a splash of the murky mud.

"Tern, three steps back and spin right!" The bandana's man did as he was told as Barm closed in with a lunge and his knife in the air. Right as Tern had spun right out of the way, the blade had been plunged deep into a mangrove tree and was stuck fast.

"Beluga, dodge left! Puffin, five steps to your 10 o'clock and strike!" Following her instructions, the starhat narrowly missed a knife in the head form the large Umeri. Meanwhile, Puffin found himself behind his opponent and took him down at the knees.

"That noisy bitch!" Grave spat, looking towards the voice of the captive girl who was coaching her allies below her left and right. "I'll teach her a lesson-"

"Room: Scan." No sooner had Grave heard the words, a long blade cut out of the dense fog and the longarm had dodged left, just having narrowly missed getting his arm cut off, and several strands of his rough red hair fell to the ground.

"I don't think you should be diverting your attention so haphazardly, Grave-ya. Especially since surgeons are used to operating on blind instincts alone."

"Law, behind you!"

A thick tangle of vines with a sharpened spire at the end, burst from the fog and had nearly struck him through the chest. Then, to the right, another deadly spire erupted, and then another from the front, and then from below, til he found himself dodging and cutting through the endless barrage of attacking foliage, trying in vain to focus on Grave's location.

"Now who's attention his diverted, little Captain?" Grave's voice seemed to echo from all around. "Why don't you be a good little kitty and just roll over and die?"

Kairee wanted to give him help, but the vines were attacking too low for her to see them.

He continued to evade and cut down the deadly green spires, waiting for a chance for a counter-attack, until he felt a sharp point pierce right through his arm and he let out a cry of pain. He looked at his right arm and saw that he was pinned through to the tree behind him.

"Bingo! Finally caught him!"

"Law! He's coming straight for you!" Kairee cried desperately. His hat, however, stood unmoving in the thick fog, and Grave advance with great speed, his hook raised overhead.

"Law, please! He's right in front of you!"

And then he was, and he brought his hook down like an executioner's axe on the Heart Captain's hat.

"LAW!"

Grave grinned triumphantly, but it quickly disappeared once he realized that there was no one wearing the hat that hung upon a branch and now fell to the ground with his blow. Nor was there anyone attached to the dismembered arm pinned to the tree, its edge cut so clean that no blood fell except for where the vines had pierced through.

"Looking for me?

Grave's blood ran cold when he heard the voice right at his ear, and he could not respond before Law said, "Mes" and drove his hand at Grave's back, right over where his heart sat, and it came shooting out in front of him, encased in a cube of ice, then hit the tree and fell straight into Law's hat as Grave fell on his hands and knees, his whole body suddenly overcome with incredible weakness and exhaustion.

The now one-armed Captain walked calmly past his fallen opponent. He cut the vines that had trapped his right arm and pulled it out, then reattached it using his ability, sutured and bandaged the large wound. Then he stooped down to pick up his hat, and with it, the block of ice with the beating heart inside.

As though it had learned of Grave's defeat and had decided to abandon him, the fog had lifted, though only as much to allow visibility, and the sun's rays began to shine right through the thick boughs and trunks of the mangroves with the coming of sunrise. Everyone halted their fighting at this sudden daybreak, and were stunned even more so at the scene of the two Captains.

Law faced towards the opposing crew while holding up the heart of the fallen captain behind him and his voice came out calm and even. "The fight is over. Give up now or your captain's life will be snuffed out."

The Heart Pirates cheered, while the longarms were filled with shock and disbelief as they watched their captain heaving and cursing upon the muck-coated ground.

"You bastard," he panted, "You'll pay dearly for this!"

Kairee, who had been celebrating the victory, realized that it had been premature when she noticed that down below, one member of Grave's crew was missing, and she suddenly felt a malicious presence behind her.

All at once, she felt the touch of sharp steel at her throat while her head was drawn back, and a voice called out, "Not so fast, Captain Law!"

Everyone looked up to find Sersis holding Kairee at knife's edge. The color drained from Law and his crew's faces, while the longarms reveled in their crewmate's clever tactic.

"Good job, Sersis! Make 'em pay!" Grave exclaimed wearily, getting to his feet by using a nearby mangrove tree for support.

Law grit his teeth and motioned to move but Sersis said sinisterly, "Don't you dare try anything, Captain Law. Her head will be off as soon as I see fit."

He stared straight at the girl held hostage upon his own ship, and she saw desperate frustration set in his face, which slowly turned into a hard-faced surrender as he raised his hands in the air, and in one he assured the heart's safety for everyone to see.

"Good boy," he sneered, as Kairee did her best to keep from gulping down the lump in her throat.

"Law, it's not worth it," she told him weakly.

Surprisingly, he shook his head and smiled, quite triumphant.

It was only in the next moment that she understood, because, quite suddenly, the grip on her head slackened and the edge at her neck fell away as Sersis dropped to the ground, while below her she saw the faces of both friends and foes who all looked as dumbstruck as she felt she was, save the smiling doctor.

A colorful feathered dart was stuck to the back of his head and the girl looked behind her and found Bepo leap onto the ship, beaming at her as he retrieved the key from the knocked-out pirate's pocket and unlocked the restraining seastone cuffs that at once fell away.

"Bepo! Thank you!" She leapt up and tightly embraced her large, fuzzy friend, who returned the gesture warmly. Out of the corner of her eye, however, she noticed her allies cheering, but a figure moved just behind them and a tight line shone like death in the sunlight.

Her whole body moved swift as a squall and descended upon the field where Shachi and Penguin stood, both of whom had been preoccupied with exchanging celebrations that they did not take notice that behind them, their embittered opponent's, who realized they were wholly defeated, had launched one final attack on them.

The two had only enough time to turn their heads when a large wave of wind blew past them and crashed into the charging longarms, sweeping them off their feet. Buraki and Lassert were swiftly shot into the air, engulfed in a small twister, and thrown onto the ground, finally laying in the muck groggy and unmoving.

Kairee rematerialized in front of them and smiled somewhat bashfully at Penguin and Shachi.

"You two okay?"

Penguin grinned warmly and nodded, while Shachi didn't say a thing while not exactly looking at her.

"You damned bitch!" Grave had recovered himself enough to stand up, but it was clear that his legs strained to support him and his face was lined with sweat. "I'm not through yet!"

"Yes you are." The voice came deep and slow and it came from the shadow beyond the mangroves, and from it had also emerged an arrow drawn and aimed at the back of Grave's head.

He froze when he sensed the danger he was in, speaking carefully.

"Kwai?"

A young man with a bald head and colorful tattoo markings on half of his face stepped out from the shade. His eyes were hard and he kept his bow taut and the arrow steady as he moved.

"Don't you dare speak my name, you devil."

Grave attempted to raise his arms, but the arrow found itself touching the scalp of his head to halt him.

"Move and I will let the arrow fly."

"Come now, Kwai," the longarm sneered. "We both know you don't have the guts to kill me. It's against your beliefs." The last words he said had been said in an amused matter-of-fact tone.

Kwai was silent for several moments as all eyes were set on him, and finally he spoke. "You are right, unfortunately." He lowered the bow and arrow, and at once Grave began to laugh loudly, but it stopped immediately when he felt something cold and heavy close around his wrists.

At once, he felt the power he regained drain from his body and he fell down on one knee, the looked up at the man who smiled down at him triumphantly.

"I cannot kill you. But I will leave it up to that man there."

"Well well," Law's voice came easy, as did his languid smirk, when he stepped forward towards the defeated captain, tossing the heart into the air precariously.

"Should I make you and crew into my next operating dummies?"

As soon as the remainder of Grave's crew, Barm and Umeri, heard these words, the color went out of their faces and they decided to make a break for the cover of the thick trees. But just before they made it, and array of spears popped out from the shadows before them, and with them appeared Kwai's companions, all tribesmen with tattoos on their face and bodies of varying patterns and designs, and with the same set eyes of conviction.

"Damned cowards," Grave spat angrily.

Law walked right up to him and held the heart firmly in his hand. "You know, if I squeeze hard enough, you'd have a very agonizing death." Grave's sweat started to come in waves as he grit his teeth resentfully. He seemed to want to spit out a hateful remark, but for the first time, it seemed that he had nothing to say regarding his eventual doom, as now it seemed evident that there was no escape, and simply glared at the younger captain.

"Or maybe I should make you all beg for mercy like you intended for us?"

After saying this, Law seemed to catch himself midway in a thought, and he turned away from his captive and looked expectantly at Kairee, who was caught in surprise at his recognition of her presence. He looked at her carefully, but not with the glaring intensity of their previous interactions, but as though he had recalled something about her, something that seemed to shine her in a new light.

He didn't speak, and, uncomfortable with the tension, she decided to ask, "W-What is it?"

He seemed deep in thought, and then suddenly smirked, as though he found something amusing. "Aren't you going say anything about mercy?"

She realized that he meant Grave and his crew. She shifted, not looking at him.

"I… I don't really think it's my place to say anything, to be honest." It surprised and alarmed her that he seemed to know what she was thinking, and added quickly, "You're the Captain, after all. Whatever you decide goes, of course…"

He seemed unprepared for this statement, as if he'd momentarily forgotten his position in the crew, but his lazy smile returned easily.

"You always had something on your mind anyway," he mused, mostly to himself.

When she asked "What?" from not understanding, he said something that sounded like "Conscience," and turned away before she could respond with more confusion.

The Heart Captain smirked down at Grave with finality. "Crew, let's send them off."


	6. Chapter 6: You're Welcome

Chapter 6: You're Welcome

* * *

(Hello all. This is my very first published fanfic. Please feel free to leave any comments at all and have a great day.)

Disclaimer: I do not known any of the One Piece characters. This is a non-canon work of fiction.

Warning: I do realize that Kairee comes off like a Mary Sue, yes. Haha, I suppose I just ended up writing her that way. Whether that retracts from the experience or not is entirely up to the reader. I do hope you all enjoy the story, though.

* * *

….

Many moments later, the Strongarm Pirates, all having been knocked out with the exception of their captain, who spat and cursed in sequential tirades, were loaded into a large wooden sea kayak fitted with a sail that was eagerly donated by the Harn Boar tribe.

The light of the mid-morning sun shone cheerily on the moss-tinted water, and the Heart Pirates stood in a group at the edge of root-entangled land, with the captain at the front, tossing the frozen heart up in the air and catching it calmly.

Then, without warning, he had stopped his tossing, drew his arm back, and with a strong throw, the beating organ flew across the air in a long arc and fell with a barely audible plop several meters away into the unforgiving ocean. It bobbed and rocked serenely as it was carried inch by inch away to the open waters.

"When you're a pirate, you have to give your heart to the sea." Law stated sarcastically.

Grave, his mouth having dropped nearly to the bottom of the sea vessel, was too outraged to say a word before Law called Kairee's name.

She stepped out, somewhat timidly, from under the boughs where she had been standing close to Bepo, and later Law gestured at the boat. She understood his intention, and blew out a breeze from her lips.

The gust caught the sail and it drifted steadily away. The tribesmen, watching some distance away, seemed to burst in rejoicing cheers that drowned out the spiteful curses of the despairing, defeated captain. The young girl did not stop blowing and the tattooed people did not finish their shouts of joy until the white triangle was only a speck in the blue backdrop.

After their source of troubles had sailed away, a serene quiet passed over everyone standing by the sea, especially the tribespeople. Then, a voice rose up clear.

"Pirate Captain."

Law turned to find Kwai step forward, and a little way next to him emerged an old man, a few inches shorter than Kwai but no less physically developed despite his more careful gait and wizened presence.

'This is the great chief of our tribe, and my father, Airin."

The captain regarded them with his attention but said nothing. The chief was wearing a headdress of feathers and colorful stones, and his face and body seemed to be marked with even more ink than his son's.

The old man started, "Ferrio Grave and his comrades have been an evil presence to our tribe for many days and nights. After arriving on the island, I believe that man must have thought this the perfect place to use his magic that could control the vines, and after fooling our people of his good nature, he set his place on the land and abused other unsuspecting travelers, stealing all their possessions and doing as they wished. His true nature, we soon realized, was one of deceit and destruction, but our people are peace-loving, and though he began his tyranny upon us, we had no courage to harm another man if we could due to our laws, even though Kwai had many times tried."

He paused a moment and said, "It was only after we saw your strength and cunning against that devil, using your own magic, that we found courage ourselves, and Kwai decided to let his dart fly to save the girl's life and the rest followed."

The chief bowed his head solemnly, and his son followed suit, and soon all present from the Harn Boar tribe held their heads bent low towards the crew.

"On behalf of my tribe, I thank you for all that you have done."

The Heart Pirates stood fixed as they received their gratitude, all confused as to how to respond, and so looked to their captain, who all the while had no change of expression.

"There's no reason for thanks." Law said, matter-of-factly. "We simply protected ourselves and I took the chance to get rid of my enemy. I had no intention of saving your people."

"Be that as it may, you are surely the reason that my people are free, and for that, we are grateful."

Law's unimpressed expression only seemed to deepen. "It would be unwise of you to set us apart from Grave and his men just because we beat him. We're still a pirate crew, after all. There's no stopping us from doing exactly as he did and terrorizing your people."

"While you may be correct," the chief replied, with a knowing smile, "In all my years of life I have never seen a man so merciful and yet so cruel to an enemy. You let them live when they would have tortured you if they had emerged victorious. And yet by doing so, you gave Grave a lifetime of troubles, and a fear of death at every moment. I can see that you are an honest pirate, if such a thing exists. Whether or not you decide to bring ruin to our tribe is up to your choices. But I do believe there's nothing for you to gain here, and further, that you do not desire such a thing."

Airin's eyes shined with the resolve of age. "We will be happy to supply you with whatever we can provide until you take your leave from our island."

At this, Law smirked amusedly, as though he could only concede.

"Well then, I have no objections to that if you really insist."

….

After this exchange of understanding and agreement, most of these from the tribe returned to their village as the crew tread back to their ship along with a few men who were ready to aid them. Kwai, more knowledgeable about the things in the world than his people, informed the crew that the log pose on the island would set in 7 days, to which the navigator was grateful.

Law surveyed the exterior of his ship with the help of the mechanics and found no permanent damage, as it seemed Grave used his Tangle fruit's ability to lift and carry the yellow submarine along the murky, vine-filled waters and tendril-thick trees. He decided that there was no immediate need to dislodge the sub from where it was now, and that he would have to save up his energy til the log pose set and they could set sail so that he could use his ability to move the ship. His crew had no objections to this plan, and though they seemed concerned and complained about having to walk through murky mud just to get to the ship, the tribesmen seemed to find it no trouble at all in giving aid by dragging some fallen logs out from the thickets and setting them up as bridges.

The crew returned inside and assessed the state of the interior, especially after the longarms had ransacked it. Aside from the occasional knocked down piece of furniture and footprints of thick sludge tracking the metal floors, to which Kairee could not help groaning with exasperated futility, damage was at a minimal. The essentials of the vessel were inspected meticulously, the so-called "brain" and "heart" of the ship, and the Captain seemed to be quite concerned over the infirmary's condition, though for what reason Kairee could not fathom other than to ensure the safety of his possessions.

After she watched the crew getting instructed by the Captain and going off to their duties, she realized that there was no longer any reason for her to even be there. Hadn't Law said that as soon as they reached shore, she'd be kicked out of the ship? All she could, or should, do now was take her backpack from Law's custody and walk out.

Despite how logical this train of thought seemed in her mind, she couldn't bring herself to take a step in beginning to do so. After everything that had happened recently, it would be a dead-end to just up and leave. She knew deep down that there was still unfinished business, and felt that if she stuck around, perhaps she could finally put some things to rest somehow.

And so, she stayed, however awkwardly, around the Heart Pirates. While they checked around the ship, she watched them quietly and stayed out of their way. When they left the ship and head on to the tribe's village, led by Kwai and the good, quiet men, she followed. Throughout it all, her presence was regarded, but no one said a thing to her, and she felt relieved, though notably out of place. Even Law had no words to tell her, despite all that had happened.

Kwai and the company stopped underneath a collection of especially large trees, or at least she surmised that they were through the thin fog. He directed them to a wooden ladder supported by green tendrils, and without much discussion, they each started up one after the other, with the Captain taking the head of the line after the tribesmen and Kairee taking the tail end after Penguin.

After taking her last step upon a platform and looking about her, she could not stop the gasp of wonder that escaped her mouth, which had joined many of the other's own.

The sunlight poured in generously from above the treetops, and looking down below they could see the blanket of fog that could not reach that place. The air was filled with a soft bird song, and the sweet scent of fruity flowers. Among the tree's large sturdy branches sat about 30 or so huts, and several rope walkways going hither and thither between them. In the middle of the quaint residences was the largest tree, its branches curved away from the center to form a flat basin such that it looked like the town square where people came together as a tribe.

Kwai showed them around and the villagers- simple, gentle-minded folk of self-sustaining, unchanging tendencies, accommodated their presence graciously, and went on with their daily lives with smiles that seemed to have been suppressed for a long time and were now free to be displayed.

The Captain asked Kwai several questions, about their sources of sustenance, their living habits and their degree of contact with the outside world, to which Kwai all answered with great detail. After their little tour, some villagers offered them food items to be taken back to the ship, which the crew accepted. Law and Kwai agreed to meet again that afternoon, and the crew departed back to their own abode.

After returning to the yellow submarine that had now become so familiar to her and realizing that Puffin would be making lunch, she wondered if perhaps they would bring their attention to her fate. Not knowing what to do and too afraid to speak up, she went back to the only place she thought she could- her prison cell. She sat on the cot a long while, thinking perhaps that they might have thought she left or that they didn't much care about her anymore, til she heard the bars creak, and her heart stopping, turned to find Bepo had entered.

No words were spoken for the long moment that they looked at each other, and the girl realized just how unreadable a bear's face could be, when he went up to her and raised his paw suddenly. He brought it swiftly down on her, and she flinched before she felt the warm fur patting her head softly.

"C'mon, it's time to eat." Her anxiety quickly dissipated, and emotion gripped at her throat, though she dared not let her eyes meet his and betray her. She nodded gratefully and the left the cell together.

As they approached the mess hall, a delicious smell wafted out from the room's open door. Inside, she found all of the crew gathered and they had already begun the meal. They looked at her, but mostly with curiosity and expectance, as she went off to her spot by the counters. The Captain's gaze was more subdued and did not linger at all as he went back to his food.

After each had finished and left, she stayed behind, and, finding nothing better to do, helped Puffin with cleaning up. After all, it wasn't something she necessarily disliked to do. He did not object to this, and, in fact, gave her his nervous smile now and again when their yes met. Just as they had done with washing the dishes, she heard her name called, and turning around, she found Penguin at the door, who was smiling quite happily at her.

"Are you finished?" he asked.

"Oh, um, y-yeah, why?" she replied, feeling her face flush at the sight of his enthusiasm.

"Well, if it's alright with you, would you like to go with us to explore the area?"

The surprise showed on her face. "Are you sure?" she couldn't help but say.

"Of course!" he replied with a boldness that made him blush afterwards.

She wanted more than anything to get the chance to wander about the trees and wildlife, but she asked cautiously, her face falling at the thought.

"But what about the Captain? He might mind if I…"

She let the words hang, but Penguin gave a good-natured chuckle, and his obscured face became calm once more as he said, "Actually, it was the Captain who asked me to get you."

….

They emerged from the Deck Enclosure to the warm midday sun that had dissipated most of the cool fog. On the deck waited Shachi, Bepo, Law, Kwai, and another, much older tribesman, all of whom regarded the last members of their party.

They set off without much ado into the warm, humid air of the mangrove forest. The ground was marked with large jutting trunks and sloshy marsh as they made their way. As it turned out, the older man was the healer of the tribe, and Law employed his help in identifying flora and herbs suitable for treating different conditions, and as they walked on, they spoke about illnesses that had come to the tribe over the years.

Kairee had prompted not to speak much during their little expedition, but seeing the wildlife around her made her feel quite relaxed and eager to see and know more. Bepo remarked to her about the healthy state of the tress, and a conversation on forests followed, later joined here and there by Penguin and supplemented by Kwai. She could not help but ask the latter about the types of animals that thrived there, and from there the customs and traditions of their tribe were related to those who listened.

Every once in a while, the Captain would call on her to use her wind ability to retrieve an out of reach branch or fruit that the healer pointed out. And though she did not at all mind being called on for these specific tasks, and was even grateful for the chance to come at all, the Captain's manner and intentions still confused her, though she tried to keep it out of her mind for the moment.

The afternoon passed by slowly but pleasantly, and soon enough they were heading back to their starting point. Fog reappeared gradually as they sky turned orange and the temperature lowered. As they continued to walk on, darkness finally fell, and indigo sheet encompassing the world. They were a little way before reaching the ship, when they hear the clamor of voices coming up from somewhere close by.

Wondering what on earth could be happening, the party rushed to the source of the noise, a steady low drum beat emerging along with the voices, all getting louder and louder. They saw bright orange flicker in the distance, and shadows dancing past the sparse fog beyond them.

Finally, they burst through the misty curtain into a large clearing. There, the fog was dissipated by the warmth of the torches set up all around them, and they were welcomed by the eager greetings of the entire tribe.

Each man, woman, and child seemed to be present. A huge feast was prepared at one end of the clearing, its sumptuous smells filling the air along with the lovely garlands of multicolored flowers that were hung up as decorations.

Airin, dressed in a colorful chieftain's garb, stepped forward along with the Heart Pirates who had stayed behind, all looking very pleased and excited, and welcomed them with a flourish of open arms.

"We have been awaiting your return, good friends."

The newcomers were all thoroughly surprised, and looked expectantly to their local companions, who both had knowing smiles on their faces.

Now that they had arrived, the feast could finally begin. They were led to the table set up for the special guests, which had exotic varieties of fish, meats and fruits, all displayed for their consumption. The crew's mouths watered at the sight, but they looked to their captain, to see how he would react to this surprise banquet, and if he would give the 'okay' to participate.

He gave them his languid smile and sat down at the head of the table with his legs crossed and arm hanging over the back of the seat.

"Well, it wouldn't be polite letting all this food go to waste, would it?" he told them with an approving tone. "You all deserve a good feast like this."

The crew's faces lit up with joy as they hastily took their places and sat down. Directly across Law at the other end of the table sat the old chief. Kairee found herself on the left-hand side to the chief while right across her was Kwai, and next to her sat Penguin. Everyone else around them sat around the other feast table on logs, but nonetheless they looked exceedingly eager and jolly.

Airin stood up tall and proud, spreading his arms out to his tribe.

"Eat and drink the fruits of your labors, my good people! This is a night for joyous celebration, for the evil presence plaguing us all has finally been rid by the bravery and strength of our honored visitors. We are truly grateful to them." He raised his goblet to them.

"A toast! Long life and good graces to all!"

"Long life and good graces!" The tribe cheered and drank deep in heartiness. Even the crew were drawn into the festive atmosphere and cheered as well. They all began to eat their fill of the food set for them, and everyone remarked on how good it all tasted.

Kairee stayed mostly silent as the meal went on, content on just observing both her companions and the tribe, who laughed and spoke together warmly, as well as feeling timid in the immediate presence of the chief. She spoke when spoken to, especially by the chief and his son, who urged her to enjoy herself, and was glad that Penguin was busy speaking to his crewmates, since she felt nervous about chatting with him alone.

Her eyes betrayed her and stole a few glances in the Captain's direction. They had locked eyes a few times, but they never held them for more than a second. Behind his eyes lay no malice, but there was a sort of question in them. She couldn't well fathom what it could be, since there was no chance to study his gaze, but she tried to keep herself looking busy and occupied with her food and the words exchanged by the two heads of the tribe, lest she accuse herself of staring.

After they had all eaten their fill, the chief rose up and looked to his guests.

"Now that you are well-satisfied, there is something we would like to show you." The Heart crew looked confused and curious as they watched Kwai and a few men stand and excuse themselves into the dark forest.

When they emerged, they were heaving a load by vine-weaved ropes sung across their backs. Out of the cover of the forest appeared a large locked wooden chest. The pirates' eyes widened and their jaws hung as the heavy load was hauled next to their table.

The Captain silently stood up, approached the chest, and with a swift slash, the padlock on the clasp fell to the earth and his nodachi was sheathed. He opened the chest, and the dull gleam of gold and the glitter of silver reached the eyes of everyone present. Some of the crew, including Kairee, could not help but gasp.

"While he stayed on this land," Kwai explained, "He had taken all these from other travelers and pirates before giving them an untimely demise. Our people have no use for treasure, and not any taken by dishonesty and bloodshed. Do with it as you please, friends."

The Captain smiled amusedly and closed the chest.

"We'll be taking it off your hands, then" he said, and it was then moved off to the side.

"Now that that business is done, let the music begin!"

Airin clapped his hands and a band of 6 tribesmen, holding various kinds of instruments crafted, as it seemed, from the nature around them, began to take their places around a large stump. One of them began the beat, and, all at once, they started a lively dancing tune. One by one, the tribesmen began to take the large space in the middle of the clearing and dance carelessly and joyfully to the music, as though all their sorrows and fears had been relieved by the beat of the drums and the blow of the horn.

The Heart Pirates sat and watched this spectacle as everyone (save the children) was served a frothy amber liquid.

"Drink! It will help you dance," Kwai urged them.

"Is this alcohol?" Kairee couldn't help but ask incredulously.

"Ah yes, but the alcohol we make in our village is different from those that come from the outside. I beg you, try it."

She smiled and thankfully declined, while the others at the table happily accepted the offer ad tipped the clay goblets into their mouths.

"Wow, this is great!" Shachi remarked with a surprised sort of smile. The others exclaimed their praises as well and it seemed as though a switch had been flipped and they'd all suddenly relaxed together.

Everyone began to clap to the steady, lively beat as the men danced. Shachi, Penguin and tern, who all seemed overcome by the gaiety and overwhelming desire to move, joined the floor as well and danced along with the tribesmen, who welcomed them unabashedly as the pirates followed their movements.

When the song ended, the band switched to a different, slower tune, but not any less lively, and the women were stepping up to the floor and pairing up with a partner before dancing together, or the men themselves were bringing their partners up with them.

Tern, regaining some of his bearings, had sense enough to step out quickly lest he be pulled in with the couples. Shachi, however, had caught the attention of a large, buxom woman and was dragged off for a dance. The crew all laughed at this, and Kairee was quite enjoying herself with the music and dances when she felt a touch on her shoulder.

She started and turned to find Penguin.

"M-Ms. Soliss, would you like to dance for a bit?" The exposed part of his face flushed from the drinks, but turned progressively darker shades of red as he muttered and blurted the words.

Everyone as the table fell silent at once and looked at him incredulously, especially Kairee. For a few moments, she stared at him, awestruck and blushing.

"I promise I won't do anything ridiculous to you. If that's alright, I mean," Penguin added, a bit more confidently, after a deep breath and a reassuring smile.

"I- Umm, okay. Sure," she answered quite hastily while trying to get up from her seat. She could feel her face was heated and dared not look at the others as she stood. She kept her eyes on Penguin, who seemed gratefully joyful and flustered as he offered to take her hand, and she blushed even redder at the offer. She heard the crew's talk resume as they went up to the dance floor, but she heard not a word as they were swiftly taken up by the group of couples.

It was a bit difficult to keep track with the crowds but eventually they fell into step as they grasped hands and spun and twirled and skipped and laughed. Partners were exchanged as the circle of dancers came together and collapsed upon itself, and the cycle was renewed. All the while, the laughing and music filled their ears.

Before either of them realized, the song had ended, and the pair bowed at each other, their faces flushed, and headed back to the table where the others sat, while a new tempo began to play.

Most of the crew who decided to pay them mind, perhaps more because of the alcohol than not, had begun to tease Penguin.

"Pretty good dancing out there," Shachi elbowed him, his face red.

"Yeah," Tern interjected loudly while swinging his mug around in an exaggerated mimic of the previous display, "You should have been a performer instead of a pirate!"

"Well, I'd like to see you try to take two straight steps right now, you drunk" Beluga remarked, his eyes droopy and voice relaxed.

"He'd at least be a better dancer drunk, that's for sure." Puffin clapped, his nervousness now a distant memory.

"Take a few lessons from Shachi. I'm sure he can show you a few moves," Penguin laughed loudly, joining his friends in the merriment after politely letting his dance partner take a seat first next to Bepo.

The bear turned to her with a large smile, his fuzzy cheeks tinged with a flush of color.

"It's great that everyone can take a break like this." He seemed to remark to the general air rather than at the girl, and seemed in a dreamy haze.

Kairee felt joyful amusement at the crew before her and the ease that fell into place around them. Whether they were friends, comrades or just passing acquaintances took a back seat. Right now, as she studied each of their merry expressions, she could only feel happy for them.

'Wait.' She noticed something that made her heart stop a moment.

"Bepo?"

The bear looked at her dreamily

"Where's the Captain?"

"Oh, I think he went off to the men's room," he replied sleepily. Embracing a mug of frothy liquid close to his face.

A thought- no, a feeling- descended suddenly upon her like a lightning strike. It was a feeling she'd grown accustomed to and had revolved all her travels around. It was the distinct feeling that she had to leave.

A pit of melancholy settled in her stomach as she watched everyone, but that intuition was never wrong. She stood from her seat as naturally as she could manage, and started to walk off into the dark woods.

"Kairee, where are you going?"

She turned to find most of the crew watching her inquisitively. She fakes a chuckle, and hoped it didn't give away the deception she regretted in her words.

"I'm just headed to the bathroom you guys," she assured nonchalantly. They all seemed to accept her answer without much thought, and went back to their merry conversations.

As she tread along a crude moonlight path, it made her heart heavy that she had to deceive them, and that she could not really say goodbye. If she did, they would wonder why she was leaving, and she could not explain her reasons in any manner that they could reasonably accept. This was, for her, the best option.

After a while, she arrived at her destination. The yellow submarine was positioned serenely in the middle of the murky pool, and everything was bathed in the moon's glow. She reflected on her time with the crew as she approached, and thoughts of Law began to fill her mind. She had been trying to put him out of her head when she set her resolve to leaving, but seeing his ship made the feeling in her gut stronger, as if prompting her to hasten her disappearance, and also strengthened her desire for answers that she might never receive, and, however awkwardly, to see the doctor-captain again for the last time before she departed.

The only thing left for her to do, and the reason she was here, was to retrieve her backpack. Despite all that had happened, he still hadn't returned it to her, and whatever it took, she had to get it back.

She jumped onto the deck easily, and then froze on the spot at what she saw. The cogs in her mind stopped completely for a moment, and then swiftly worked into overdrive, as she was both highly amused and embarrassed by her own idiocy and lack of foresight, for she never even once considered, after all her mulling and regrets, that Law had, in fact, been on the ship this entire time.


	7. Chapter 7: The Things You Can't Remember

Chapter 7: The Things You Can't Remember

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(Hello all. This is my very first published fanfic. Please feel free to leave any comments at all and have a great day.)

Disclaimer: I do not known any of the One Piece characters. This is a non-canon work of fiction.

Warning: I do realize that Kairee comes off like a Mary Sue, yes. Haha, I suppose I just ended up writing her that way. Whether that retracts from the experience or not is entirely up to the reader. I do hope you all enjoy the story, though.

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….

Law was sitting at a small circular wooden table, where two identical wooden chairs were placed, and a pitcher full of purple drink, two glasses, one empty and one filled halfway, a small leather bound book, and her backpack were waiting on the surface. If she hadn't known any better, he'd set all of it up as though he _knew_ this was going to happen. But he couldn't have possibly known…

Could he?

His expression didn't help much, either. He looked up when she arrived, almost expectantly so, and she could tell her mouth had been hanging open when he took a sip from his glass and gave her a teasing smirk.

"Why don't you take a seat for a second?"

She snapped out of her stupor and blinked repeatedly. She realized that the gut feeling had gone, rather, it was lessened to a low intensity hum inside of her. It was as though a voice told her, "Well, I know this is important to you, so you can wrap this up first before you have to go."

To both that voice and Law's suggestion, she could not help but say "Thank you," with an incredulous breath, and she took the unoccupied seat as her heart thumped loudly, but not unpleasantly, in her chest.

They looked at each other a while, and Law's smirk was replaced by his pensive, contemplative stare. Kairee wanted to say something, but under the scrutiny of his gaze, she couldn't figure out exactly how to start the conversation.

As though having finally decided, Law picked up the pitcher and poured her a drink while saying, "I'm not fond of drinking alcohol. I don't believe you are, either."

She muttered her thanks as she picked up the glass and drank, peering at him curiously.

"Penguin seems to like you a lot."

Kairee nearly spat out her drink.

"Wha- Why are you-?"

"It was just an observation. Anyway, what are you going to do about it?"

"I- I don't know," she spoke with her mouth trembling.

Feeling flustered, she retorted. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

He leaned back, and his face betrayed no emotion.

"The crew won't miss me for more than a few minutes, so I'm taking a rest. Besides, it's a beautiful night to be watching the stars."

He looked up, and following suit, Kairee gasped at the scene above her.

The black inky sky above her served as the canvass for millions of stars, all twinkling at different intensities, each complemented by the serene and comforting glow of the full moon. It was truly a breath-taking sight.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

"Kairee."

She was jolted from her trance and turned to Law, who was looking at her intensely. He suddenly sighed.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you while you were with us. Please accept my apology."

Out of all the things he'd said to her that night, this had surprised her the greatest and left her sorely confused at how strangely and differently he was acting.

"Ah… It's alright, Law. I understand," she answered, and attempted a reassuring smile.

He smiled very wistfully at the sky. "Sometimes, you meet people in the most unexpected ways," he said softly, mostly as thought to himself. Kairee was about to ask what he meant, but her beat her to it.

"I still remember you telling me that a long time ago."

"Law… What do you-"

"Kairee, you are Shingle, and I can prove it to you without a doubt."

Their chairs were positioned close to each other, so it was an easy ask for the Heart Captain to lean over and whisper in Kairee's ear. He'd done it in such a non-threatening manner that she hadn't realized what was happening til he had already backed away, and the words he'd spoken left her completely speechless.

Law seemed to be waiting patiently for her response, and after a long moment, she spoke. "You know my real name," she said slowly, a non-question, and her expression told him that she had a million questions buzzing in disarray in her mind.

"You told me that I could only use it if I needed to convince you of anything. You know my true name as well. Or rather, you should."

Kairee turned these words over and over, with even more questions popping up in her head. Not just anybody knew her true name. Law was obviously someone she had trusted, at whatever moment they happened to meet. She breathed deeply, looking at him with thorough confusion.

"Law, when and where exactly did we meet?" she began.

He did not look at her as he replied, but kept his eyes on the starry sky, reminiscing. "We met on one of the mountains of Minion Island. There was a severe blizzard and you saved my life. That's also where Grave and his crew had been mountain bandits and I took his left hand. That was around 11 years ago now."

"What?! Law, that's impossible!" Her voice rose up in outrage and desperation. "Eleven years ago, I was only 5."

"So I'm correct to assume," he interjected calmly, "that you're 16 right now?"

"Well…. Yes," her outburst fizzled out on the face of his quiet contemplation

He gave a short chuckle, sounding both amused and tired. "I thought so."

"What do you mean…?"

"When I met Shingle, she was 19 years old."

These words seemed to sink in slow motion, as though someone had dropped a rock into a tub of jelly.

"Law, that's…." She found herself dumbstruck. Nobody could believe something like that. But despite the outrageous declaration, there was no hint of trickery or malice in the captain's voice, and what's more, he seemed to be on the verge of understanding some enigma.

"Don't get me wrong," he said at length, "It's not like I understand what's going on. I'm only taking the facts as they are. And, I know for a fact that when we met on the ship, you were not the same Shingle that I knew several years ago."

"I don't understand. I thought you said you were sure that I was Shingle?"

"I knew that you and Shingle are one in the same person, but I could also see that you are not exactly the one who I met and came to know. You both look and mostly behave the same, but there are several small differences that tell me that the Shingle I knew had lived longer than you have. There are subtle differences in your personalities, as well."

"So basically, it seems that…. You first met me when I was older than I am now?"

"That is how it seems, yeah."

Kairee's head felt like it was spinning around and so she fell silent. All the while, around them, the stars continued to shine, and she envied the simple and unaffected light that shone from them. The calls of insects from the forest lulled the marshlands, while the sounds of merrymaking from the party nearby could be heard just above a whisper.

Suddenly, a song filled the air, and Kairee blushed and listened transfixed when she realized that Law was singing, his voice low and soothing. He sung a few verses, and when he stopped, Kairee could not help but praise his performance.

"You sing very well," she remarked timidly.

"It's a song you used to sing all the time," he said with a small, sincere smile.

She couldn't quite place it, but she realized she had heard it before. "It does sound familiar, yes…" Because of it, she thought up an important question.

"Law, if we really did meet such a long time ago, why do you still remember me?"

At that, Law's expression suddenly turned grave, as though he had recalled a painful memory.

"You and I lived together for a short while," he explained. "You were taking care of me while I was ill, and during that time I kept a journal." He cast his eyes for a second on the book on the table. "I've kept it and your letter ever since you disappeared."

"Wait what? Letter? Disappeared?"

He let out a strained sigh. "One day, when I woke up, you were gone. I realized you'd left for good when your back pack was nowhere to be found, and you left me a letter and some money. I ran around the town searching for you, but when I asked of anyone had seen you…" He looked at her strangely, a mixture of frustration and sorrow.

"Not one of them could remember you, not even the people you worked for or interacted with every day. It's as though you had never existed."

Kairee swallowed the hard lump in her throat as she listened on. She couldn't even begin to imagine how he must've felt at the time.

He stopped speaking for a moment, and his expression softened slightly. He started again, but with a milder tone.

"If it wasn't for the letter you left me and my own journals, I believe I could have forgotten you as well."

"So that must be why you were so shocked when you first saw me…" She voiced at length, more a statement to herself.

"It's also the reason why I treated you the way I did. I realized that yelling at each other wasn't going to give me answers, and there was no way for me to explain my relation to you with the crew if I continued insisting that you were Shingle, so I treated you cruelly, as a prisoner, to get rid of my crew's doubts on my behavior. I can't deny, though, that I was influenced by my own anger and confusion. Again, I apologize."

"No no, I understand…."

Kairee stared at her hands. She didn't want to look at him, her thoughts muddled over the recent developments. She did realize, however inappropriate it seemed, that she felt ashamed over walking out on Law without warning, whether it was really in the future or not. And though he was harsh, she couldn't bring herself to find any fault in him and his actions.

"If anything, I think I should apologize for what I did, even if I don't remember doing it."

Law let out an amused chuckle. "Sounds just like something you'd say."

He looked at her, then at the backpack on the table.

"Go ahead and take it back. And don't worry, I never opened it."

"Really?" She was thoroughly surprised and ventured to ask. "Why?"

"I'm not sure, really," he shrugged. "To be honest, I'd always wondered why you were so protective of it, and I was curious about what you kept inside. But over time, I realized you trusted me enough not to snoop through it even when I had the chance. Even back then, I never touched your bag. I knew it was your second most prized possession."

"… Second? What do you mean? What was the first?"

He was silent while looking at her, as though he was struggling to put the thoughts into words.

"Show me your hands," he finally said.

Kairee placed her hands on the table with the palms up. Law stared at them for a long time, as though he was searching for her destiny on the thin, cracked lines. It made her a bit uncomfortable, til she began to think ridiculously that he might be diagnosing some dreadful disease by looking at her hands.

She said hesitantly, "What's the matter? Is there something wrong with them?"

He leaned back and remarked uninterestedly, "There's nothing interesting on them."

Kairee's face fell comically. "Then why did you keep staring at them for so long?"

"You'll find out some day," he said nonchalantly, like the train of conversation took a boring turn. The young girl sighed tiredly, and realized that trying to pry anything more from the Captain was going to lead to a dead end.

"Anyway, I brought your bag out since I realized you would be leaving soon," he continued like it were the most natural thing to say.

She did a double-take. "How could you know I would be leaving soon?"

Law simply shrugged with a smug smirk, "Lucky guess. It has happened before, after all."

When she really thought about it, it was almost scary how much Law knew about her, and it was clear as day to her that he knew much more than he let on. She also felt sorry for him, to a point where even she couldn't believe it. Had she really abandoned him at some point in time? And had they been so close that her presence would cause him to react in such a way? What had happened in his past and her future, if such a thing was even possible?

"You probably have a lot more questions, but I'm not going to answer any of them. You and I both kept a lot of secrets back then, so I don't think I really could if I tried. Though I could easily tell you everything that happened while we lived together, but if you do somehow end up meeting a younger Trafalgar Law in the future, you would know exactly what was going to happen and what to do. Since I'm sure you can't give me the answers that I want, it seems a little unfair on my part, so I would rather give you a hard time of bearing with the unknown."

Kairee heard both teasing amusement and genuine contemplation in his words, and she herself couldn't understand how she could feel both flustered and gladdened by their conversation and their time together thus far on the deck.

"Alright, I can't really blame you for that. If it's all true, then I'll find out sooner or later." She got her bag and held it close, appreciating its great weight in her arms.

"Thank you for taking good care of this, though. I should also be thankful since nothing bad happened to me the whole time, and now that I think about it, I'm sure you've been trying your best to take care of me in your own way."

He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"You could've refused to feed me, or thrown me into the ocean." She said this while getting up and slinging her bag over her shoulders.

"Hmm, true."

Law watched her through silent eyes, as though shown what he knew to be inevitable.

She honestly wanted to spend more time here, with them, with him. Whether it was to get to the bottom of everything or just to get to know these people she's been living with for 3 days, it didn't matter. There was a sinking feeling in her heart and she looked at him, but the gut feeling was back and stronger than ever, and she knew that no matter what, she must go.

"I have to go," she told him.

"I know."

She walked out to the edge of the deck, the cool night wind hitting her face as she turned to look at him one last time and raised a hand in farewell. "Please tell the others I said bye."

"I will."

Before she let the flow of the forest breeze engulf her, Law spoke up.

"I forgive you."

She turned to him with surprise, which turned into a large smile, all while blinking back some unexpected tears in her eyes, "Thank you."

Then the wind picked up and swirled around her, and she with it.

In a blink, she was gone.


End file.
